Volunteer State College Educator Selected for Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship by Television Academy

Ines Petrovic Garcia, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Honors Program Director at Volunteer State College, in Gallatin, TN, has been selected for an Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship by the Television Academy Foundation in Hollywood. She is one of 18 professors selected from colleges and universities nationwide for the 2025 fellowship program.

Since 2021, the Foundation has offered Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowships, established by the Harry & Judy Friedman Family Foundation, in honor of the late television icon and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, which provide financial support for educators from community colleges and minority-serving institutions to attend its annual Media Educators Conference. The three-day conference, held at the Television Academy’s North Hollywood campus in California Oct. 22-24, connects college classrooms with the television industry by providing media professors with curriculum-enhancing seminars on the latest in the art, science and business of television with prominent leaders in entertainment.

Garcia is a PhD candidate in Communication at Regent University. She holds an M.A. in Lifespan and Digital Communication from Old Dominion University and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Honors Program Director at Volunteer State College in the Nashville area. Her research focuses on the intersections of media, pop culture, gender, and leadership, with particular interest in how communication shapes identity and social influence.