A Family Love Affair with Media Inspires Daughter’s Gift

Christy Carpenter grew up absorbed by the whirl and wonder of her parents' workflow.

Liz and Les Carpenter were journalism graduates from The University of Texas at Austin, emboldened and empowered to pursue their passions for news and politics in Washington D.C. They formed the Carpenter News Bureau, serving a dozen newspapers in the southwest United States, including the Houston Post and Arkansas Gazette, as well as Variety.

They officed inside the National Press Building, and young Christy walked the hallways, hearing the constant drum of the wire service machines, marveling at the iconic newspaper names stenciled on the glass doors.

Playing in the Big Leagues

That youthful "feeling of excitement" developed deeper roots.

"My parents instilled in me the ambition to do something of significance," Christy said. "I grew up with the idea that I should be doing something important and impactful."

After initially working as a news reporter, Liz served in various roles of national leadership, including as staff director for Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and later press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson when she was First Lady.

Politics and journalism were the primary conversation topics in the Carpenter household, and Christy remembers that her parents "both loved words, loved reading." An overall appreciation for artistic expression and freedom inspired Christy's own professional path in technology and media. Most notably, she served as chief operating officer/executive vice president for the Paley Center for Media, managing programs and operations in New York and Los Angeles.

She established the Liz and Les Carpenter Scholarship within the Moody College's School of Journalism and Media to assist students to grow as leaders who are also principled in the ethical fundamentals of journalism.

"My parents loved their college years and studying journalism at UT. It was a place that helped give them the skills and confidence, right out of college, to go straight to Washington D.C. and play in the big leagues," Christy said. "I wanted this scholarship to in some way recognize the value that a UT journalism education provided."

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