Jacob Noseworthy once rallied his peers at the University of Victoria to collectively voice their displeasure at a menu change in the cafeteria. The mozza sticks battle, which garnered B.C. news coverage, was eventually won by the group of vocal and hungry students, grateful to see the sodium-rich bites restored to the menu and appreciative to their movement’s leaders like Noseworthy for their support.
Now, Noseworthy’s friends are honouring his passion for political action through a scholarship fund set up in his name. Jacob Noseworthy, a 22-year-old from Grand Forks, died while away at school on Vancouver Island in September.
“After we lost Jacob, I was pretty upset about it,” said one of Noseworthy’s university friends, Jonathan Granirer. “There was obviously a lot of grief involved and there still is, but I wanted to do something with it rather than just just sit on it.”
So, Granirer did what Noseworthy may well have done, taking his concern right to the school’s brass to figure out how he could create a scholarship in his friend’s honour. The Jacob Noseworthy Memorial Scholarship will go to support students in financial need who are passionate about journalism or Canadian politics. Both the subjects were chosen based on Noseworthy’s own passions.
Granirer met Noseworthy through the university’s NDP organization, and became friends through debate. They took to the podiums in their first year of university in 2016, “and that was probably one of the scariest things that both of us had done at that point in our lives,” recalled Granirer. “It really brought us closer together, going through that together. And we did the same thing the following year. And we always just kept in touch.”
Noseworthy is also remembered by his friends as a keen helper, often making himself available to problem solve, to listen and to chip in.
“I remember him as a really honest guy […] and that’s something that I think is is rare in a person is someone,” said Granirer, who is one year Noseworthy’s junior. “He was someone who just wanted what’s best for others and someone who was really kind and caring and and just a really, really good friend.”
Keeping with Noseworthy’s convictions to principles, the money raised through the scholarship will be invested in the University of Victoria’s “Fossil-Free Fund,” meaning that the $25,000 base sum to be contributed to the university’s endowment fund will not be invested into oil companies. (There has been a student-led movement at the school for nearly a decade now, asking the university to entirely divest its investments from fossil fuel industries). Adding the Jacob Noseworthy Memorial Scholarship, Granirer said, will also nearly double the sum currently in the “clean” account.
Gaining interest every year, the $25,000 that Granirer and others are hoping to raise for the Jacob Noseworthy Memorial Scholarship will be able to kick back more than $1,000 every year for lucky students who qualify for the award.
“He always wanted to help other people, and through the scholarship fund, he could be helping other people for a really, really long time,” Granirer said.
Those interested in donating to the fund can do so online, or by contacting giving@uvic.ca for details.
Related: A final thank-you to one of our own
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