The Chicano Alumni Legacy Award will be presented to former Fresno State public information officer Tom Uribes for his contributions as a journalist and promoting education in the Central California Latino community the past 45 years.

Tom, 63, concluded a 30-year career with the University when he retired in December. He served under three Fresno State presidents: Drs. Harold H. Haak, John D. Welty and Joseph I. Castro.

Tom will be honored at the Chicano Alumni Club Awards and Scholarship Banquet at 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12, at the University Square Hotel (4961 N. Cedar Ave.) Tickets for the banquet are $40, with several sponsorship levels available. Proceeds benefit the Chicano Alumni scholarship endowment fund. For information, or to RSVP, contact Pena-Olgín at 559.908.981.

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Three journalism students will be presented scholarships at the banquet.

George Garnica, 41, of Madera, will receive the Chicano Alumni Club Scholarship ($1,000). He is an award-winning veteran news photojournalist at KSEE-TV 24 who returned to college a few years ago for a degree in Media, Communication and Journalism and plans to graduate in May with aspirations to teach journalism.

Jennifer Madrigal, 19, of Porterville, will receive the Fresno State Amigos Scholarship ($1,000). The second-year Fresno State student is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Public Health Administration with a minor in Media, Communications and Journalism (public relations option). She is a student assistant with Fresno State’s Outreach and Special Programs, serving as its media manager.

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, 23, of Porterville, will receive the Zack and Carmen Uribes Scholarship ($1,000) that was established earlier this year by Tom’s family after his father, a World War II veteran, died in April. Rodriguez-Delgado is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Media, Communications and Journalism with a print (news) option at Fresno State. He is the editor-in-chief of the university’s student newspaper, The Collegian, a position he has held since fall 2017. Cresencio also works as a part-time student writer for The Fresno Bee, covering breaking news.

Manuel Olgin, founding president of the Chicano Alumni Club, which is affiliated with the Fresno State Alumni Association, said the Chicano Alumni Legacy Award recognizes a Fresno State alumnus who has made significant contributions to the Chicano experience at the university and to the community at-large.

He specifically cited Tom's work as a journalist and his selection last fall as a 2017 Media, Communications and Journalism Fellow, along with 10 other journalism alumni honored at the MCJ Hall of Fame dinner in November. The MCJ Fellowship recognizes and honors those whose lives and careers have contributed measurably to the media, communications and journalism fields.

Tom began his journalism career as a student writer for the Sanger Herald and The Fresno Bee and participated in ABC30’s TELEMEX Program in 1973 that encouraged young Latinos to enter the media profession. He was editor of the Fresno State student newspaper, La Voz de Aztlan, in the mid '70s; Sentimientos Magazine, a Chicano community publication, in the late '70s; and The Delano Record in the mid '80s before joining Fresno State staff in 1988 as a public affairs specialist. He helped establish the Fresno Chapter of the California News Media Association and served as director of the CCNMA Minority Journalism Workshop. (See full bio at http://bit.ly/ChicanoAlumLegacy18event).