Class of 2019

Watch Savannah Sellers' full speech!

Anonymous — Wed, 22 May 2019 21:51:17 +0000

Watch Savannah Sellers' full speech! Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/22/2019 - 15:51

CU ��«��Ƶ and CMCI alumna Savannah Sellers is a correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC and co-host of Stay Tuned, NBC’s Generation Z news brand. She delivered the 2019 commencement speech earlier this month.

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Class of 2019: Fisher made most of complete CU experience

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2019 22:13:30 +0000

Class of 2019: Fisher made most of complete CU experience Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/09/2019 - 16:13

Fisher, of course, is known to Colorado football fans as a four-year member of the Buffs who played a key role in CU's run to the 2016 Pac-12 South championship, and was a two-year starter and a senior team captain.

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Class of 2019: Journey to the top

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2019 04:39:48 +0000

Class of 2019: Journey to the top Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 22:39

For senior Torrie Eberhard, graduation was nearly a decade in the making.

After spending six years at Front Range Community College and three years at CU ��«��Ƶ, Eberhard, who is majoring in strategic communication with an emphasis on public relations and peace and conflict studies, is more than ready to claim her degree.

She’ll do so at the top of her class, as CMCI’s William W. White Outstanding Graduate, an honor given to the student with the highest GPA in the college.

“In my nine years of undergrad there have been countless obstacles and reasons to give up. I have taken semesters off and have restarted again and again,” Eberhard says. “Every time I consider throwing in the towel, but then I reflect on all of the obstacles, and how far I have come, and I just do it. I just turn in the paper or take the test, and now I am here.”

As a non-traditional student, Eberhard balanced her class schedule with a heavy workload. She also completed a PR internship with the Colorado Ballet, volunteered, and became a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America. The key, she says, was prioritization.

“For most of my college career, I have worked full-time,” she says. “Sometimes multiple jobs and over 40 hours a week. While it is absolutely possible to overextend yourself, we can mostly make time for the things we want to make time for.”

Another obstacle Eberhard faced—or expected to face—was the process of transferring schools. As she prepared to enroll at CU ��«��Ƶ after several years at a community college, she worried about being older than other students and about not having connections established on campus.

Instead, during her first days and weeks on campus, she was pleasantly surprised to find a support system of friendly students, helpful and reassuring advisors, and dedicated professors, she says.

“The professors were the best,” she says. “They challenged the way I thought about myself and about the world. They supported me even though my circumstances were far different than my peers. And they believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.”

One of the people who offered support along the way was Instructor Dawn Doty, who taught Eberhard in her Principles of PR and Strategic Writing for PR classes. Doty noticed that outside of class, Eberhard played an active role in supporting her family. She also noticed Eberhard’s work ethic, and her desire to do her best on every assignment.

“She pushes herself to get the very best grades and is disappointed when she doesn't reach her potential,” says Doty, who was recently named PRSA’s Mentor of the Year. “I remember one day Torrie came to visit me during office hours. She mentioned that she was disappointed with a grade for a writing project. I looked back to see what grade she achieved. It was an A-.”

Eberhard’s own assessment of herself is similar.

“I am a little neurotic and a major perfectionist—both to a fault,” she says. “I’m somewhere between a dreamer and a realist.”

Leading up to graduation, Eberhard has applied to a number of organizations. Her goal is to to find an entry-level position at an international strategy agency, but she’s open to whatever opportunities may come. Down the road, she hopes to finish and publish a book she’s started, to travel, and to find ways to build community and improve people’s ability to communicate with one another.

“Eventually, my intention is to create a space for the broader public to engage in a productive manner—a space that breaks partisan barriers and allows connection on a human level,” she says. “It’s a mixture of critical theory and communication strategy, an intersection in which I spend a lot of time.”

As she looks toward the next decade of her life, Eberhard knows challenges are sure to come. If her campus career has taught her anything, though, it's that she has the resiliency to overcome them and persevere.

“There was a time where I didn't even consider college, and more recent times when I thought I would never finish. This award is symbolic of all of the hard work and it is pretty special,” she says. “Wherever I end up, I know I will work hard, learn and excel.”

For senior Torrie Eberhard, graduation was nearly a decade in the making.

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Class of 2019: CMCI student awards

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2019 07:13:08 +0000

Class of 2019: CMCI student awards Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 01:13

CU ��«��Ƶ CMCI Outstanding Student Award
Lina Takahashi

William W. White Outstanding Graduate
Awarded to the student with the highest GPA in the college.
Torrie Eberhard

William W. White Departmental Awards
Chosen by department faculty, this award recognizes academic merit, professional achievement and service to the college.

Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design: Brianna Schwartz
Department of Communication: Hannah Stewart
Department of Critical Media Practices: Aabriti Shrestha
Department of Information Science: Jacob Paul
Department of Journalism: Lina Takahashi
Department of Media Studies: César Iza Castillo

Congratulations to all of our 2019 award winners and graduates.

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Class of 2019: Students graduating with honors and distinction

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2019 06:38:39 +0000

Class of 2019: Students graduating with honors and distinction Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 00:38

Graduating with Honors

Students graduating with honors have completed an honors project demonstrating independent learning and intellectual insight that makes a contribution to our understanding of media, communication or information. The work must demonstrate intellectual or creative ability as well as analytical skills worthy of the recommended honors designation.

Summa Cum Laude

Chelsea Magyar, Communication
Hannah Stewart, Communication
Anna Scott, Journalism
Lina Takahashi, Journalism
César Iza Castillo, Media Studies

Magna Cum Laude

Samuel Metivier, Media Studies

Cum Laude

Gavyn Doty, Journalism
Madison Moye, Strategic Communication

Graduating with Distinction

This designation recognizes students who earn a 3.75 GPA or higher over at least 60 hours of coursework.

Saud Altarkait
Lauren Arnold
Doori Bae
Sarah Brase
D’mitrius Brewer
César Iza Castillo
Sabrina Cavanagh
Kelsey Cloud
Julia DeBell
Grace Diamond
Rane Dickerson
Casey Van Divier
Emily Dodge
Torrie Eberhard
Mary Fleming
Sophie Katon
Jensen Keller
Sarah Lemon
Nash Levitt
Juliet Luna
Chelsea Magyar
Samantha Masterson
Jake Mauff
Samuel Metivier
Kelsey Mullins
Raine Roberts
Serena Roberts
Nicole Rosen
Wendi Schneider
Brianna Schwartz
Sophi Schwartzbauer
Selada Sinprasong
Hannah Stewart
Anna Mary Scott
Aabriti Shrestha
Serene Singh
Fiona Slater
Julia Stanisz
Brianna Suazo
Lina Takahashi
Anastasiya Zhukova

Congratulations!

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Class of 2019: Department of Communication student awards

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2019 06:04:36 +0000

Class of 2019: Department of Communication student awards Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 00:04

Academic Achievement Award
Lauren Arnold

Academic Leadership Award
Jamie Ramge

Civic Engagement Award
Francesca Rubin

CDE Civic Engagement & Community Leadership
Nathan Bedsole, PhD
Logan Gomez, MA

CDE Leadership in Democratic Engagement
Brandon Daniels, PhD

John Waite Bowers Award
Rebecca Rice, PhD

Phillip K. Tompkins Student Achievement Award
Chelsea Magyar

Distinguished Graduate Student Service Award
Danielle Hodge, PhD
Kathryn Leslie, PhD

Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
Ellie Busch, MA
Logan Gomez, MA

Congratulations to our spring 2019 award recipients.

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Class of 2019: Serene Singh

Anonymous — Mon, 06 May 2019 16:47:50 +0000

Class of 2019: Serene Singh Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/06/2019 - 10:47

Singh is the first woman in CU ��«��Ƶ history to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and the first Buff to receive it since 1993. She aspires to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

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Class of 2019: Chasing Olympic dreams

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2019 17:16:02 +0000

Class of 2019: Chasing Olympic dreams Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/02/2019 - 11:16

After chasing her dream throughout college, Lina Takahashi—who will graduate Summa Cum Laude and represent the College of Media, Communication and Information as CU ��«��Ƶ’s Outstanding Graduate—is one step closer to the finish line.

A senior majoring in journalism with minors in Japanese and technology, arts and media, Takahashi will head to Stamford, Connecticut, this summer to work with NBC Sports as an Olympics production fellow.

“The Olympics have been in my family,” she says. “Growing up, my dad worked with Japanese Olympic runners. He and I are both working to be in Tokyo for the Olympics, so it’s really neat that we both get to work toward the same goal.”

Both of Takahashi’s parents were born and raised in Japan. They met while her mother was attending graduate school at CU, and her father was training as a runner in ��«��Ƶ.

Takahashi followed in her mother and older brother’s footsteps to attend CU, and shared her father’s love for the Olympics. While she knew it was a longshot, she found ways to prepare for the 2020 games throughout her time in college. She spent three years working for Buff Sports Live—CU ��«��Ƶ’s student-run sports broadcast—and completed internships at a tourism company in Tokyo, KGNU Independent Radio in ��«��Ƶ, and 9News KUSA in Denver, where she helps produce Next with Kyle Clark.

“I had to learn very quickly how to prioritize everything I wanted to do in my life,” she says.

As she progressed through classes and internships, Takahashi broadened her interests as a journalist. She began to gravitate toward opportunities that allowed her to shine a spotlight on other cultures, and on people whose stories are often under-told, overlooked or misunderstood.

In 2018, she was one of 17 students selected from universities throughout the U.S. for an Asian American Journalists Association VOICES fellowship, where she spent three months reporting on stories of LGBTQ Asian Americans who’d come out to their families.

For her senior honors thesis, she interviewed high-level athletes, sports professionals, sports psychologists, researchers and LGBTQ advocacy leaders about the intersection of gender identity and sports. It’s the type of work she hopes to do professionally: telling human interest stories about the challenges and triumphs athletes experience.

Takahashi earned the 2019 Evan Wolfson Prize in LGBTQ Studies for her honors thesis, and received the Department of Journalism’s William W. White award, which recognizes outstanding seniors.

While her time on campus was a whirlwind, to a large extent, her plan worked. One day she opened her email account and found a message from a recruiter at NBC Sports who wrote, “I heard you’re an Olympics fanatic.”

“I think my love for the Olympics was partly because of my dad, but I also think that I was just amazed at how the world comes together every two years to compete, watch and celebrate their nation’s players,” she says. “My motto ever since I was little was that I am ‘mini but mighty,’ and I think that still applies today.”

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NBC ‘Snapchat generation’ news host tapped as 2019 commencement speaker

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 16:23:19 +0000

NBC ‘Snapchat generation’ news host tapped as 2019 commencement speaker Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/19/2019 - 09:23

Alumna Savannah Sellers (Jour'13)—correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC and co-host of Stay Tuned, NBC’s Generation Z news brand—will deliver the university’s May 9 commencement address at Folsom Field.

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