Mia Waddell and Madison Ogle win Bear CLAWS awards from the University of Central Arkansas during the December Board of Trustees meeting.
Seniors Mia Waddell and Madison Ogle became recognized for their respective journalistic endeavors and achievements during their time at UCA.
CLAWS, which stands for Celebrating the Lofty Achievements of our Wonderful Students, is a recognition typically awarded at regularly scheduled board meetings to groups or individuals who are change-makers on campus.
Ogle said receiving the award was something she was extremely grateful for.
“I ultimately felt very grateful and kind of undeserving at the same time. UCA has given me a lot and I’ve always felt the need to do as much as possible for them, so to receive a big award like this almost feels like something I can never truly repay them for,” Ogle said.
Waddell explained that receiving the award was a full-circle moment for her as she’s covered the winners of this award several times in the past.
“As a student journalist, Board of Trustees meetings are one of my favorite things to cover, so I’ve been to most of them since I came to campus in 2020. Every meeting, a student or two is given a Bear CLAWS award, so I’ve seen the story and written about the honorees quite a bit over the years. I did not expect to receive one at my final meeting though, so it was an incredibly full-circle moment for me,” Waddell said.
In April 2023, Waddell was recognized as Reporter of the Year at the Arkansas College Media Association awards ceremony and Ogle was recognized as Photographer of the Year.
Waddell held the position of Editor-in-chief of UCA’s student newspaper, The Echo, for the Spring and Fall 2023 semesters, and other editor roles in previous semesters. The paper as a whole won Arkansas College Newspaper of the Year in 2022 and 2023.
“Working at a student newspaper, and running it for two semesters in a row, is a labor of love. To be successful in my college reporting career, I have had to make a lot of sacrifices, so I felt very happy to be recognized at the end of it all. It also felt especially important coming from President Houston Davis and the university as a whole, because it means they value their student journalists,” Waddell said.
Similarly, Ogle has held several editor positions with The Echo, but she has also worked as a student photographer for the UCA Marketing department.
“I’ve been all over this campus because of my work as a student photographer, so hopefully I’ve made a lot of good impressions on the campus community,” Ogle said.
In April 2023, Waddell was recognized as Reporter of the Year at the Arkansas College Media Association awards ceremony and Ogle was recognized as Photographer of the Year.
Waddell held the position of Editor-in-chief of UCA’s student newspaper, The Echo, for the Spring and Fall 2023 semesters, and other editor roles in previous semesters. The paper as a whole won Arkansas College Newspaper of the Year in 2022 and 2023.
“Working at a student newspaper, and running it for two semesters in a row, is a labor of love. To be successful in my college reporting career, I have had to make a lot of sacrifices, so I felt very happy to be recognized at the end of it all. It also felt especially important coming from President Houston Davis and the university as a whole, because it means they value their student journalists,” Waddell said.
Similarly, Ogle has held several editor positions with The Echo, but she has also worked as a student photographer for the UCA Marketing department.
“I’ve been all over this campus because of my work as a student photographer, so hopefully I’ve made a lot of good impressions on the campus community,” Ogle said.
Article by UCA Journalism major, Ashlyn Taylor.