CSUN Scholarship to Aid Disabled Students

A newly created scholarship will help disabled students pursue studies in film, radio and television at Cal State Northridge.

Television producer Loreen Arbus established the scholarship, which will be given out each year to a student with a disability or to a student producing work that deals with a disability, said Judy Marlane, chairwoman of the Radio-Television-Film Department.

“My belief is it would probably go to a student with a disability, certainly the first year,” she said.

“In years to come, I think there will be more and more of these students to give this to.”

Arbus said she created the scholarship to recognize the college’s efforts to educate and break down barriers for disabled filmmakers.

“This is a campus in which we integrate into the mainstream the disabled students,” Marlane said.

“So in addition to having a diverse student body, which first attracted Loreen to the campus, we also have a number of disabled students.”

Recipients of the scholarship will receive $3,500.

Private scholarships to the department are rare, and production students can encounter especially high expenses.

“This is a very equipment-intensive program and it can become very costly to get their final projects made,” Marlane said.

Criteria for the scholarship are being written. The first award is expected to be given out in the upcoming spring semester.

In 1982, Arbus became the first woman in the nation to head programming for a network as she co-founded the Cable Health Network/Lifetime.

She has produced for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and the USA cable network’s “Case Closed.”