Vanderbilt University students won top honors in the Southeast Journalism Conference’s (SEJC) Best in the South contest.
Since its start in 1986, the SEJC has sponsored the contest and a conference annually to encourage greater interest in student journalism and to foster closer ties among journalism students and faculty in the Southeastern United States.
Laura Breslin, who took home the Best Magazine Writer title, drew on the nine months she spent in Cairo, Egypt, as a study abroad student for her award-winning articles in Versus, the university’s student magazine. A senior at the university, Breslin also placed fifth in the College Journalist of the Year category for her pieces on Egyptian politics, the Iraqi Tribunal, Saddam Hussein’s trial and a free speech controversy. (Download a .pdf of Breslin’s article on Cairo).
Senior Greg Roberts won the Best Feature Writer honor for his article “The Teton Experience,” which ran in Versus and chronicles his summer spent working for the National Park Service at Grand Teton. A backpacking trip there inspired him to write about what he says most visitors miss – the total immersion in nature that the backcountry offers. (Download “The Teton Experience”).
Best Sports Writer Jordan Mamorsky is a junior and his winning SEJC entry included a feature story on Vanderbilt running back Cassen Jackson-Garrison who has faced great adversity on the road to becoming one of the football team’s starting players. The story ran in The Vanderbilt Hustler, the university’s student newspaper. (Download Mamorsky’s story on Cassen Jackson-Garrison).
Other students recognized by the SEJC include senior Diana Ebanks as Best Magazine Page Layout Designer; senior Daniel Darland, who placed fifth in the Best Arts & Entertainment Writer category, senior Anne Malinee, who ranked third in the Best Opinion-Editorial Writer category; senior Elise Alford, who placed 10th in the Best Press Photographer category, and junior Doan Phuong Nguyen, who ranked third in the Best Television Journalist category.
Versus magazine was ranked second on the Best College Magazine list and the Vanderbilt Hustler ranked third in the Best College Newspaper category.
For more information about Vanderbilt’s student publications, visit http://www.vscmedia.org.
For more news about Vanderbilt, visit VUCast – Vanderbilt’s News Network at www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu