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Ouachita students earn three of seven top awards in 2020 Arkansas College Media Association competition

May 12, 2020 - Jessica Daniell

Addy Goodman

Ouachita Baptist University students earned 36 awards at the recent Arkansas College Media Association (ACMA) conference, three of which were awards in General Excellence for Yearbook of the Year, Yearbook Editor of the Year and Website Editor of the Year. The awards were three of seven overall General Excellence awards given to student publishing in news, magazine, yearbook, online, radio and television divisions from two-year and four-year colleges and universities around the state.

Addy Goodman, a senior communications & media/communications studies and political science double major from Arkadelphia, Ark., was named Yearbook Editor of the Year for her work on the Ouachitonian yearbook, which earned Yearbook of the Year in General Excellence for the 2019 volume “Untold.” Ethan Dial, a senior communications & media/multimedia journalism major from Little Rock, Ark., was named Website Editor of the Year for his work with The Signal student newspaper.

“I am extremely pleased with the General Excellence Award for the 2019 Ouachitonian yearbook,” said Dr. Deborah Root, advisor for the Ouachitonian and professor of communications at Ouachita. “The book had a wonderful theme of telling the untold stories at Ouachita. From writing and design to photography and theme development, the staff did an excellent job of providing a look back at the year.”

Ethan Dial

“I’m so excited for Addy to win this award,” Root continued. “She had in her mind her goals for the book and worked to develop a theme and concept that was outstanding. Her leadership was amazing, and her professional approach to her responsibilities were admirable. She deserves this award for not only producing an outstanding yearbook, but for the leadership and process she provided for her staff.”

Of the 25 individual awards the Ouachitonian staff received, 17 were claimed by Goodman.

“Working on the Ouachitonian as editor-in-chief has been a childhood dream of mine,” Goodman said. “I used to read Ouachita yearbooks for fun as a child when my dad would bring them home from work. When I was given the job last year, I knew it was a job I was going to dedicate my year to, as it was a dream finally come true.

“The Ouachitonian is a tangible book of moments and relationships – Ouachita captured into a few pages,” she added. “I imagine my classmates opening up their yearbook years down the road to show their kids how precious life was here. I was so honored to play a part in that.”

For Dial, the 2020 ACMA conference marked his third consecutive year to receive the Website Editor of the Year award for The Signal.

“It’s a great honor to win an Editor of the Year award, but it’s unprecedented to win it for three consecutive years,” said Dr. Jeff Root, advisor for The Signal and dean of the School of Humanities. “Ethan transformed The Signal website his sophomore year, and he’s continued to upgrade it with fresh ideas for the past two years. He’s a tremendously talented young man, and we’re excited to see what he’ll achieve as an alumnus.”

“It was such a pleasure telling Ouachita’s stories, and some of my favorite moments were spent in the newsroom,” Dial said. “I’m so grateful that I was able to capture just a bit of Ouachita’s history and so proud of my staff who helped me accomplish a great newspaper.”

ACMA Ouachitonian staff awards include:

1^st place, Feature Layout for “Who’s Who” – Addy Goodman
1^st place, Layout-Organization/Greek for “Rush” – Addy Goodman
1^st place, Student Life Layout for “Tiger Serve Day” – Addy Goodman
1^st place, Sports Layout for “Men’s Basketball” – Addy Goodman
1^st place, Academics Writing for “Experience proven crucial, meaningful” – Gracen Goudy, a junior communications & media/communications studies major from Benton, Ark.
1^st place, Sports Writing for “Tigers march to conference championship undefeated” – Ben Swanger, a senior communications & media/sports media major from Forney, Texas
2^nd place, Sports Photo for “Wrestling dominant photo” – Alex Blankenship, a 2019 communications & media/communications studies graduate from Little Rock, Ark.
2^nd place, Layout-Organization/Greek for “Women of EEE” – Addy Goodman
2^nd place, Portrait Layout for “Junior Portraits” – Addy Goodman
2^nd place, Academics Writing for “Passion found in God’s calling” – Ashly Stracener, a senior communications & media/strategic communications and English double major from Cabot, Ark.
2^nd place, Feature Photo for “Catie Shirley” – Justin Trostle, a senior music industry major from El Dorado, Ark.
3^rd place, Cover for “Y1-Yearbook Cover” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Divider for “People Divider” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Closing for “Closing” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Endsheets for “Endsheets” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Feature Layout for “A Spirit of Diligence and Passion” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Academic Layout for “Fine Art Music” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Layout-Organization/Greek for “Men of Eta Alpha Omega” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Student Life Layout for “Tiger Tunes” – Addy Goodman
3^rd place, Sports Writing for “Lady Tigers prove talent on the court, forceful”– Ben Swanger, a senior communications & media/sports media major from Forney, Texas
Honorable Mention, Writing-Organization/Greek for “Hands on learning” – Caleb Byrd, a senior communications & media/integrated communications, political science and Spanish triple major from Little Rock, Ark.
Honorable Mention, Introduction Theme Page/Opening for “Untold Theme + Title Page” – Addy Goodman
Honorable Mention, Divider for “Student Life Divider” – Addy Goodman
Honorable Mention, Academic Layout for “Humanities” – Addy Goodman

ACMA Signal staff awards include:

2^nd place, Meeting/Speech for “Board of Trustees meets about strategic plans” – Sara Patterson, a junior English major from Wylie, Texas
3^rd place, Personality Profile for “Goodman and Tucker tackle Ouachita tradition” – Caity Hatchett, a junior history and communications & media/sports media major from Keithville, La.
3^rd place, Sports Feature for “Swoboda brothers celebrate in end zone” – Caity Hatchett, a junior history and communications & media/sports media major from Keithville, La.
3^rd place, Feature Writing for “Archer’s service uplifts Arkadelphia community”– Sara Patterson, a junior English major from Wylie, Texas
3^rd place, Feature Photo for “Addy Goodman and Selby Tucker” – Justin Trostle, a senior music industry major from El Dorado, Ark.

ACMA “Roar Rundown” staff awards include:

1^st place, Sports Reporting - Tiffany Lee, a 2019 mass communications graduate from Benton, Ark., and Josh Salim, a senior communications & media/sports media major from Dallas, Texas

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