The Kraft family of Columbus has donated $22,500 to The Lantern to fund the Carolyn N. Kraft Copy Chief position. The fund honors the memory of Carolyn Kraft, a former marketing executive at Merck Pharmaceuticals with a passion and gift for words. She died Dec. 26, 2019, at the age of 81, and this gift supports the mission and legacy of The Lantern to convey truth and provide the best possible coverage of the Ohio State community. 

The generous donation was made by Kraft’s family—her son, Brian, a special-needs teacher at Colerain Elementary School in Columbus; daughter-in-law Nicole, an Ohio State professor; and grandson, Danny, a sophomore in Ohio State’s visual arts program.

Dr. Nicole Kraft is an associate professor of clinical communication in the School of Communication who trains and supports Lantern reporters and editors. A former journalist, she has been a part of Ohio State’s faculty since 2010 and teaches news writing and reporting, sports journalism, media law and ethics and feature writing. 

Kraft is also director of Ohio State’s Sports and Society Initiative and chairs the Senate Council on Distance Education. She is the vice head and programming chair for the Media Ethics Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and received the AEJMC Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education Award in 2020.