Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University students earned 38 awards at the recent Arkansas College Media Association (ACMA) conference, including four of the seven top awards for student leaders and Yearbook of the Year.

Addy Goodman was named Yearbook Editor of the Year and Taryn Bailey was named Designer of the Year for their work with the Ouachitonian yearbook, which also earned third place in General Excellence for yearbooks for the 2018 volume. Goodman is a junior communications and media/communications studies major from Arkadelphia, Ark., and Bailey is a 2018 mass communications and speech communications graduate from Kyle, Texas. Ethan Dial, a junior communications and media/multimedia journalism major from Little Rock, Ark., was named Website Editor of the Year for his work with The Online Signal. Alex Blankenship, a senior communications and media/communications studies major from Little Rock, Ark., was named Photographer for the Year for his work with each publication staff.

“One thing that really makes me feel good is that it means so much to the students,” said Dr. Deborah Root, chair of Ouachita’s Rogers Department of Communications and advisor for the Ouachitonian yearbook. “They are just so excited and proud of their work; they are proud of Ouachita. They speak very highly of our program and it just shows that students can come here and get involved and be a part of a quality program that our students work very hard for.”

“Bringing home those awards don’t just validate the quality of the work we’ve been doing,” said Goodman. “I think our professors, our advisors and the opportunities given to us through the job we do in publications does that. However, when we go out and see ourselves next to other university students, other young journalists, and we succeed, it gives us a sense of perspective. It shows me personally how thankful I am for the work I’m doing on campus, because this work is quality and worthwhile. We have the awards to prove it.”

Goodman earned these additional recognitions for her work on the yearbook, as well: first place in Writing-Organization/Greek for “EEEs seek out hearts for others,” third place in Student Life Layout for “Tiger Traks spread,” third place in Academics Writing for “Poised to Lead, Students prepare for the business world” and honorable mention in Layout-Organization/Greek for “Beta Beta.” She also won second place in Editorial/Commentary/Blogs for her “European Studies Tour is ‘trip of a lifetime’” piece for The Online Signal.

“Holding the award as the editor of the Ouachitonian was just so precious to my heart. This book means so much to me – always has and always will,” Goodman said.

In addition to the Designer of the Year award, Bailey also earned the following recognitions for her work on the yearbook: first place in Endsheets, first place in Portrait Layout, second place in Feature Layout for “Tyler Mann,” third place in Typographic Presentation for “OuachiTalk,” third place in Closing, third place in Introduction Theme Page/Opening, honorable mention in Cover and honorable mention in Divider for “Student Life Divider.”

Including Goodman’s and Bailey’s awards and the General Excellence award, the Ouachitonian staff earned 27 awards.

This was Dial’s second year leading the web team for The Online Signal and second year to receive the Website Editor of the Year award.

“I am incredibly humbled to receive this award for the second year in a row and am so glad that it comes with a position that has challenged me and grown me in my communication skills, as well as allowed me to serve the Ouachita community in producing meaningful content,” Dial said. “Telling the story of Ouachita is telling the story of some of the best years of our lives, thus far. The weight of doing this accurately is enormous, and I hope to continue to keep this at the forefront of every Signal writer and editor's mind as I have the opportunity to work for this award-winning newspaper again next year. Events like this one make me proud to be a Ouachitonian."

Including Dial’s award, The Online Signal staff earned six awards at the conference, and the print Signal staff earned three awards.

 

Additional Ouachitonian staff awards include:

• 1^st place, Sports Photo – Andy Henderson, a 2018 mass communications graduate from Royse City, Texas, for “Drew Harris catch”


• 1^st place, Sports Layout – Ben Swanger, a sophomore communications and media/sports media major from Forney, Texas, for “Cheer”


• 2^nd place, Student Life Photo – Dani Droste, a 2018 mass communications graduate from Carrollton, Texas, for “Tiger Serve Day”


• 2^nd place, Student Life Writing – Hannah Terry, a junior Christian studies/Christian missions major from Texarkana, Ark., for “Ravine Battle, biggest small college rivalry”


• 2^nd place, Sports Photo – Andy Henderson for “Volleyball”


• 2^nd place, Academic Layout – Brooke Woessner, a junior communications and media/strategic communications and Christian studies/Christian ministries double major from Springdale, Ark., for “Natural Sciences”


• 2^nd place, Sports Writing – Ben Swanger for “Growth, Tigers embrace new teammates and play strong”


• 2^nd place, Sports Layout – Ben Swanger for “Men’s Soccer”


• 3^rd place, Academics Photo – Andy Henderson for “Natural Sciences”


• 3^rd place, Feature Photo – Andy Henderson for “Seussical”


• Honorable Mention, Feature Photo – Dani Droste for “Student Life Division Photo”


• Honorable Mention, Writing-Organization/Greek – Elizabeth Steely, a sophomore communications and media/multimedia journalism major from Conway, Ark., for “Beta Beta strengthens their legacy”


• Honorable Mention, Special Features Writing – Brooke Woessner for “Mason Archer”

 

Additional online Signal staff awards include:

• 1^st place, Feature Writing – Scarlett Castleberry, a sophomore communications major from Bryant, Ark., for “Service comes full circle: Ouachita’s Merrymans serve with diligence”


• 1^st place, Editorials/Commentary/Blogs – Tiffany Lee, a senior mass communications major from Benton, Ark., for “Easter fashion: dress for His glory”


• 2^nd place, Editorials/Commentary/Blogs – Addy Goodman for “European Studies Tour is ‘trip of a lifetime’”


• 3^rd place, Editorials/Commentary/Blogs – Brody Brown, a senior communications and media/visual media and film studies major from Richardson, Texas, for “Snatching cups from cafeteria is not justified”


• 3^rd place, Audio Podcast – Mitchell Emrich, a junior communications and media/sports media major from El Dorado, Ark.; Stormi Leonard, a senior mass communications, finance and Spanish triple major from Little Rock, Ark.; and Ben Swanger for “The Fieldhouse”

 

Print Signal staff awards include:

• 1^st place, Sports Column – Caleb Byrd, a junior communications and media/integrated communications, political science and Spanish triple major from Little Rock, Ark., for “Gambling to affect future generations of sports”


• 1^st place, General Column – Julie Williams, a senior mass communications and political science double major from Arkadelphia, Ark., for “Chanel brings timeless wisdom to classic womanhood”


• Honorable Mention, General Column – William Goodson, a junior communications and media/strategic communications major from Little Rock, Ark., for “Cryptocurrency as alternative”

 

For more information on Ouachita’s student publications or Rogers Department of Communications, contact Dr. Deborah Root at [email protected] or (870) 245-5510.

 

By Madison Cresswell // Photo by Tyler Rosenthal. Pictured (from left) are Ouachita communications students Julie Williams, who won a 1st place award for her work with The Signal; Addy Goodman, Yearbook Editor of the Year; Brooke Woessner, who won 2nd place and honorable mention awards for her work with the Ouachitonian; Ethan Dial, Website Editor of the Year; and Alex Blankenship, Photographer of the Year. 

April 16, 2019

• Tags:
• Communications and Media
• School of Humanities
• Student publications