When University of Mary Washington senior Steve McClanahan pitched a proposal last spring that secured a Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant, it wasn’t his first time appearing before a live audience.
McClanahan has spent his college years participating in a weekly comedy show – think Saturday Night Live – where students learn to pitch sketches, write scripts, operate camera equipment, edit video and produce live-streamed shows as part of a Digital Media Studio course.
“I thought you’d need to go to New York or Hollywood to do something like that,” said McClanahan, a psychology major and communication and digital studies minor who has also produced Balancing Acts, an online series through the UMW University Communications department’s Lively video project. “I’ve gained so much professional experience from this.”
His passion for the project persuaded Cartland Berge, Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) director and adjunct instructor, to recruit Steve to share his story during the inaugural Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant presentations in April. Together, they earned a $4,000 Impact Grant for a new broadcast panel in the Hurley Convergence Center’s (HCC) Charnoff Production Studio. A recent gift from Mikhael Charnoff ’95 and wife Katie Valentine Charnoff ’04 helped purchase a new production desk to house the broadcast panel, providing increased accessibility for students and faculty.
“This program is funding innovative projects that are benefiting our students,” said Berge, who teaches the class required to participate in Are We Live?. The updated technology will replace the older version that’s been in place since the HCC opened a decade ago, he said. “We’re giving them the opportunity to work with the industry-standard tools they’ll use if they pursue a career in this field.”
Piloted by UMW’s Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, the Impact Grant program awarded $25,000 this year in donor-funded grants to projects and initiatives proposed by students, faculty and staff on behalf of recognized campus organizations. Applications for the 2025 Impact Grants are open through the end of January.
