On Friday, April 10, Bob Jones University hosted the South Carolina Press Association Collegiate Meeting and Awards Presentation in Levinson Hall. Students and staff from The Collegian at BJU and other colleges in South Carolina attended the meeting.
The meeting had three main sessions. Josh Awtry, editor of The Greenville News and Asheville Citizen-Times, spoke about the newsroom of the future. Awtry talked about the history of journalism and gave suggestions on how to engage people in the community. Steven Bradley, the news editor of The Journal in Seneca talked about the power of community journalism. Susan Simmons, editor of The Greenville Journal, spoke of her own experience in the news industry and gave tips on how to be an effective journalist.
“I found the conference fascinating,” said Andrew Budgick, a junior journalism and mass communication major and staff writer. He said it was exciting to listen and learn from the speakers who are living and working in the changing journalism industry.
Lori Waremburg, a senior cinema production major and comic artist, said the meeting gave her a taste of what the journalism field is like. “I believe that learning about other fields of study is beneficial to better understanding people and the world around me,” Waremburg said.
At the awards presentation, The Collegian staff received 15 awards for news stories, editorial writing, specialty page design, photography, a humorous illustration portfolio, The Collegian website and for general excellence.
Budgick won first place for a news story about the self-driving golf cart in the engineering department at BJU. Budgick said winning the award was a nice sign of progress and that it was nice to see that his writing has improved since he began writing for The Collegian.
Waremburg won second place for a portfolio of her comics that are published weekly in The Collegian. “Winning the award gave me a great sense of accomplishment,” Waremburg said. She said that having her comics recognized as art makes creating them worthwhile. “I believe God gave me this skill to develop for His glory,” Waremburg said. “And that’s why I’ll continue drawing.”
