School of Communications Celebrates Student Achievement

Thirteen outstanding students were selected from among more than 800 communications and journalism majors to be honored for their outstanding contributions in and out of the classroom. Those honored meet the highest academic standards, have been active in on-campus media organizations and have achieved great success in challenging internships.

Outstanding Senior Awards

These four awards recognize outstanding personal and professional achievements by graduating seniors who have demonstrated through consistent performance extraordinary knowledge and ability in their areas of specialization, and have made significant contributions to the School of Communications and the major.

ERIN BARNETT, Broadcast Communications Award. Presented by Tom Nelson.

BOBBY HOPPEY, Corporate Communications Award. Presented by Barbara Miller

BILLY CAHILL, Cinema Award. Presented by Michael Frontani

OLIVIA HUBERT-ALLEN, Journalism Award. Presented by Kenn Gaither

The Mary Ellen Priestley Award

Presented to the student majoring in Journalism whose published writing in newspapers or magazines has been of the most consistently high quality, the award is named for the late Dr. Mary Ellen Priestley, former Professor of English and Journalism at Elon College and adviser to The Pendulum during its first eight years. This year’s winner is ANDIE DIEMER, editor in chief for The Pendulum. Presented by Janna Anderson

The A.J. Fletcher Award

This award recognizes the achievements of an outstanding undergraduate corporate, broadcast or film major who reflects a wide-ranging interest within the field, has a GPA above 2.75, has demonstrated leadership in campus or personal life, and has been involved in some area of community service. This year’s recipient is CONOR BRITAIN. Presented by David Copeland.

James F. Hurley Legacy Scholarship

This endowed scholarship is named in memory of James F. Hurley Sr. and James F. Hurley Jr. and in honor of James F. Hurley III. All three were influential as publishers of The Salisbury (N.C.) Post. The scholarship is awarded to a junior, with preference given to communications students with priority to journalism majors, and it carries through to the student’s senior year if the student remains at Elon for four years. This year’s recipients are ASHLEY BARNAS and ALEXA MILAN. Presented by Glenn Scott.

Times-News Scholarship

This scholarship will provide financial aid for a participant in journalism at Elon University who has demonstrated leadership, scholarship, service to the community and exemplary character traits. This scholarship is awarded to MORGAN LITTLE, a rising senior who works as the opinions editor at The Pendulum. Presented by Colin Donohue.

Anthony & Olga Duke Communications Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to a student majoring in communications who has verified financial need and strong academic record. The recipients of the first Anthony & Olga Duke Communications Scholarship are ALLAIRE GURALNIK and CLAIRE DERREBERRY.

Foreman Scholarship

This scholarship, awarded to a promising student in television production, is named in memory of James Michael Elzar Foreman, a student in the School of Communications who died in 2007. The recipient of the Foreman Scholarship is EUGENE DANIEL for the second straight year. Presented by J. McMerty.

D’Angelo Family Scholarship in Honor of Bill Leonard

Established by Drs. Lawrence and Dolores D’Angelo (P ’02), the D’Angelo Family Scholarship in honor of Bill Leonard recognizes the achievements of an outstanding rising senior in the field of broadcast communication. The late Bill Leonard, former president of CBS News, was influential in the creation of “60 Minutes,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and a host of other landmark news programs. The recipient of this year’s D’Angelo Scholarship is RANDY GYLLENHAAL, a senior reporter for Phoenix14News. Presented by Dean Paul Parsons.

Other ODK Awards

Two other students from the School of Communications received awards at the Omicron Delta Kappa Annual Awards Ceremony earlier in the day. ALYSE KNORR won the Student Communications Media Award, which is presented to the student who has contributed the most to advance communications on campus durign the current academic year. MARGEAUX CORBY won the Perito Award, which awards two $5,000 scholarships to outstanding rising seniors planning to attend graduate or professional school. The scholarships are pledged by Paul and Robin Perito, who wish to pass on to other genertaions of scholars the pleasure of a liberal arts education and reward students whose Elon records exemplify the Phi Beta Kappa motto, “love of wisdom, the guide of life.”