Friends and Family Remember Comm Alum Debra “Dee” NaQuin Shafer Through New Scholarship

   1987                                                                              2017

Debra “Dee” NaQuin Shafer earned a bachelor of science degree in mass communication at the University of Utah in 1989, where she worked for the Daily Utah Chronicle as a staff writer and editorial editor. After she passed away in January 2019, her friends and family decided to commemorate her life through fundraising for a scholarship in her honor -- the Debra “Dee” NaQuin Shafer Scholarship. It will be awarded for the 2019-20 academic year to a deserving U Communication student studying journalism. We welcome continued donations to ensure this scholarship can be awarded in future years.  

While working for the Chronicle, Dee made lifelong friendships with fellow Communication students and journalism alums Shauna Bona and Lisa Carricaburu, who are sponsoring this scholarship initiative. They said, "We can think of no better way to honor Dee’s memory than to help student journalists at the University of Utah."

Dee had a passionate belief in the power of journalism to engage the best instincts of Americans. After college, she worked as reporter for local newspapers in California and Virginia and also worked for a wire service in Virginia. She spent most of her career working as an editor and writer for trade associations in Washington, DC.    

Friends and family of Dee are welcomed to donate to the scholarship in her name through this link or by mailing a check to:

Department of Communication
c/o Lindsay Kite
255 S. Central Campus Drive
LNCO 2400
Salt Lake City, UT 84112

See her "letter to readers" as the editorial editor in the Chronicle from June 3, 1988 below. 

See Dee's full obituary here.