Faculty

Spring 2022 Graduates

Madison Aldy

Carter Allen

Carlos Alvarado

Jaxson Baker

Jack Bennett

Rylee Bolls

Rebecca Brown

Baylee Browning

Mia Burrell

Sydney Calhoun

Victorine Ciswondo

Chloe Davis

Madison Davis

Sarah Douglas

Vivianne Flora

Thomas Gillette

Danielle Griffin

Jared Haney

Ian Lyle

Mallory McClure

Samantha Meidell

Riley Neil

Raven Nobles

Tania Nunez Hernandez

Layne Pennebaker

Hannah Phillips

Miriam Phwandaphwanda

Alexxis Rainey

Anthony Reiter

Abby Rich

Addison Richman

Caleb Roaf

Tiffany Strange

Ladell Tyler

Yaunica Warren

Anna Williams

Isaiah Williams

Julianna Womack

Chunxi Xin

Emily Zimmer

School of Communication’s Purple Society Inducted Students

Purple Society 2024:

Kylie Garritty

Jacey Howerton

Kaleb Vassar

Purple Society 2023:

Persis (Katy) Reagan

Morgan Trent

Nicole Vincent

CJ Parrish

Purple Society 2022:

Addison Richman

Aurora King

Yaya Ciswondo

UCA Debate and Forensics Placed at 2022 IPDA Competition

UCA Debate and Forensics competed at the 2022 International Public Debate Association National Championship and brought home some wins.

Jayce Burney won 1st place in the Professional Division, 6th place Professional Speaker Award, and 4th place speaker in the Team IPDA Division. @jayce_burney

Aurora King won 6th place Speaker in the Division and received recognition as a Tournament Octafinalist. @aurora.kings

Adam Cox won 2nd place Speaker in the Division and received Tournament Quarterfinalist. @coxadam200

C. J. Parrish won 3rd place IPDA Speaker Award as well as Varsity Division Octafinalist. @craigoryparrish

The International Public Debate Association is an interscholastic debate association with competitive programs ranging from California to Florida and from Texas to Michigan. Their mission is to provide an opportunity for individuals to develop their advocacy skills in a forum that promotes appropriate and effective communication.

The team is coached by Associate Professor of Business Law and Director of Forensics Anthony McMullen.

Arkansas College Media Association 2022 Awards

The Arkansas College Media Association (ACMA) named The Echo as College Newspaper of the Year and Addison Freeman won Reporter of the Year.

News6 also won Television Outlet of the Year by the ACMA.

Students from News6 won the following awards:

Interpretative and Investigative Reporting Award
- 1st place: Trevor Cook
- 2nd place: Chase Mauk

News Reporting Award
- 1st place: Ladell Tyler
- 3rd place: Berris Teague

Sports Feature Award
- 2nd place: Thomas Gillette
- 3rd place: Brett Walker
- Honorable Mention: Brett Walker

Weather Award
- 2nd place: Anthony Reiter, Trevor Cook, and Collin Gallimore

ACMA is composed of student media outlets at public and private two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas.

Spring 2021 Graduates

Austin Ashley

Shay Box

Kaylee Brownell

Stanarius Buford

Tyler Callahan

Haley Cash

Katie Chenoweth

Dylan Clark

Timothy Clay

Sierra Condit

Christopher Cook

Ethan Dolan

Michaela Dukes

Abigail Guevara

Tristen Hall

Kennadi Harris

Olivia Heritage

Morgan Jenkins

Cailey Koch

Morganne Lane

Jamaal Lockings

Lauren McLemore

Emily Meinzer

Makayla Meyer

Emmalyn Olles

Victoria Owens

Brianna Payne

Regin Reginio

Margaret Rickels

Rio Sanchez

Sikiru Shittu

Anna Stroud

Celeste Suitt

Coleman Watkins

Quinten Wells

Nicholas Wenger

Olivia Wilson

Fall 2021 Graduates

Emily Dye

Anna Van

Thomas Volpert

Marisa Hicks

Logan Camp

Will Wetsell

Alyssa Sparks

Michael Cover

Lauren Webber

LaKendria Geter

Natasha Hill

Ryan Bradford

Megan Franklin

Karlee Thurmon

Samuel Lusby

2021 News

NEWS

FALL 2021 NEWS + NOTES

Raggedy Table Talks Podcast. Hosted by Madison Treat and Yaya Ciswondo.

ALUMNI ACCOMPLISHMENTS

PR alum Robert Rochell drafted into NFL

STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

31 student journalists earn 51 awards in ACMA Contest

2021 School of Communication Student Award Winners

UCA Debate and Forensics Finishes its Virtual Season

Students win awards at Southern Forensics Championship

FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

McLemore, Niswonger selected for inaugural Teaching Excellence Institute

Gardner, Brown selected for inaugural Global Learning Institute

Brown wins inaugural faculty civic engagement award

McLemore’s public scholarship results in multiple media appearances

Journalism lecturer appointed chairman of legislative task force

BLACK LIVES MATTER

PR, the Press & Public Affairs reports on BLM protests in central Arkansas

ACTIVISM + SOCIAL JUSTICE

Tim Wise visits UCA as Artist In Residence Nov. 16-17

UCA Artists in Residence Series: Tim Wise – RSO Workshop, “Not Giving Up: Maintaining Our Commitment to Justice in Unjust Times”

UCA Artists in Residence Series: Tim Wise – Public Lecture, “Interest Convergence in a Time of Pandemic & Police Brutality: How COVID and Growing Authoritarianism Provide an Opening of Solidarity”

UCA Artists in Residence Series: Tim Wise – Student Lecture, “Challenging the Culture of Cruelty: Understanding and Defeating Race and Class Inequity in America”

UCA Artists in Residence Series: Tim Wise – Faculty Workshop, “Beyond Diversity: Steps for Uprooting Racism, Privilege, and Institutional Inequity”

COMMUNICATION WEEK 2020

Simon Tam of The Slants Joins the School of Communication Oct. 7-8

JOURNALISM

Scroll inducted into Walsworth Gallery of Excellence for third time

Echo editor-in-chief elected to SPJ Arkansas Pro Chapter board

CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES!

Fall 2021 Graduates

Spring 2021 Graduates

Fall 2020 Graduates

Summer 2020 Graduates

Spring 2020 Graduates

Spring 2020 Graduates Share UCA Favorites, Plans

Presentations

Nicole Reese Wins Poster Presentation

2021 School of Communication Student Award Winners

The School of Communication recognized several outstanding students during its annual awards ceremony held April 14, 2022.

Principles of Communication

Olive M. Hilliard Speech Award

London Blackwell

First-Year Writing

WriteOn Essay Award

1st place: Kyla Anderson
1st runner up: Jesus Fernandez
2nd runner up: Heavenlee Mitchell

Ink Wire Essay Award

1st place: Shelley Wieburg
1st runner up: Andre Walker
2nd runner up: Aidan O. Lemley

Public Relations

Client’s Choice Award for Best Intro to PR Plan 2021

Paitin Baker
Eliza Ball
Sarah Lunsford

PR Pro’s Choice Award for Outstanding Mock News Conference

Dalton James
Grace Lee
C.J. Parrish
Jayce Burney

Client’s Choice Award for Best Capstone PR Plan 2021

Rylee Bolls
Emily Dye
Megan Franklin
Aurora King

Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Member of the Year

Hannah Phillips

Alma O. Corley Award for Outstanding Student in Public Relations

Riley Neil

Communication

Glenn D. Smith Outstanding Student in Communication

Gregory Warren

Journalism

Harry S. Ashmore Outstanding Journalism Award

Addison Freeman

Outstanding Online Student

ViviAnne Flora

Outstanding Broadcast Student

Brett Walker

Outstanding Print Student

Addison Freeman

Writing

Joanna Castner Post Outstanding Writing Major Award

Miriam Phwandaphwanda

Up-and-Coming Writing Major

Will McDonald

Best Scholarly Essay

Cameron Steed

Best Multimodal Project

Addison Richman

Best Community Engagement Project

Lexi Bratton
Aylssa Rieman
Drew Weld

Resources

McLemore, Niswonger selected for inaugural Teaching Excellence Institute

Dr. Dylan McLemore, assistant professor of public relations, and Laura Niswonger, lecturer II of writing, were selected for the inaugural Teaching Excellence Institute.

The institute is offered by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership and the Faculty Support Working Group that is part of the Council for Student Success. It will be held June 21-25, 2021.

Dr. Dylan McLemore and Laura Niswonger

According to CETAL, the institute will focus on four primary themes.

a deep dive into the characteristics of the UCA student body
the science of learning and memory
inclusive pedagogies
socioemotional skills.