The Marshall University Foundation has announced a $25,000 gift toward the Jeff Nathan Scholarship within the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The donors of the gift wish to be anonymous.
Jeff Nathan was a junior from Parkersburg, West Virginia, who served as sports editor for The Parthenon, Marshall’s student newspaper. Nathan is one of the 75 individuals who died on Nov. 14, 1970, as the Marshall football team, coaches, fans and flight crew were traveling back to West Virginia after a game against East Carolina University.
“This gift jump starts the next phase of the scholarship,” Carl Denbow said. “The more people who hear his story, the more support I think this scholarship will continue to receive.”
The scholarship was originally established in 2012 through efforts by Denbow, Don Nathan, brother of Jeff Nathan, and friend Randy Ketcham. In 1970, Denbow was the co-advisor of The Parthenon alongside Tom McCoy.
Denbow said he and Nathan developed a friendship while working together.
“At that point, I was not that much different in age from him,” Denbow said. “I was in my early 20s, and he was in his late teens. I got to bond with him more than I would have later on when I was older and the students were younger by comparison.”
Denbow said Nathan was energetic, motivated and inquisitive.
“If he was supposed to interview three people, he would interview six. If he was supposed to turn in one story, he would turn in two,” Denbow said. “He was always trying to get better.”
The plane crash impacted the entire Marshall and Huntington communities. In the aftermath, Denbow said he and other contributors to The Parthenon focused on their work to publish a special memorial edition of the paper.
“A lot of times when you’re really sad about something, you try to overcome that by working extra hard and concentrating on other things, so your mind doesn’t wander off to the bad things that are bothering you,” Denbow said. “I think that occurred to some extent that people worked extra hard and concentrated on whatever their job was in order not to have to think about what had just happened.”
In the 1980s, Denbow and others began formulating ideas for a scholarship in Nathan’s memory. By the early 2000s, the idea was revived with a grassroots effort of donors contributing to the scholarship, which ultimately led to the scholarship being endowed in 2017. The scholarship currently has $63,604 in its fund thanks largely to this new gift.
The $25,000 gift will also be included in the School of Journalism’s “$100,000 for 100 Years” crowdfunding campaign. The school seeks to raise $100,000 in recognition of the program’s 100th anniversary in 2026.
Recipients of the Jeff Nathan Scholarship must be full-time students in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications with financial need. First preference goes toward students majoring in sports journalism from Wood County, West Virginia. Second preference goes toward students majoring in sports journalism from West Virginia.
Denbow said he hopes recipients of the scholarship are able to continue Nathan’s legacy.
“I’d like scholarship recipients to emulate his enthusiasm for sports writing, his enthusiasm for Marshall, and his loyalty to West Virginia,” Denbow said. “I would like to see them follow in his footsteps and perhaps that they would derive inspiration from him and from what he was able to accomplish.”
To learn more about Nathan and the scholarship, visit The Jeff Nathan Memorial Sportswriting Scholarship Facebook page.
For financial information regarding the Jeff Nathan Scholarship, please contact Marshall University’s Office of Student Financial Assistance at (304) 696-3162.