Emily Greer (seated) and Alexandria Smith-Todd
The University of Central Arkansas podcast, U@UCA, was recently awarded the Catalyst Award, for 2024 Best Podcast.
Hosted by Assistant Director of Student Affairs Alexandria Smith-Todd, the U@UCA podcast serves as a guide to help future college students and their parents navigate college life at UCA. Emily Greer, a marketing student from Sheridan, serves as co-host. The podcast has featured guests from different departments on campus, such as Advising, First-Year Experience, and the Office of Student Advocacy and Community.
“The U@UCA podcast was a labor of love across several departments and divisions on campus as we all tried to create an informative, yet entertaining way to engage our first-generation students,” Smith-Todd said. “We are honored to receive this Catalyst Award and be among some of the most iconic and esteemed storytellers.”
A national panel of judges awarded the podcast series based on the episode, “We Were Freshmen, Too,” which featured UCA President Houston Davis and Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Williamson.
In making the award, one of the judges said, “I appreciate how this episode features university leadership sharing their personal first-gen experiences, which humanizes them and helps them better connect with their student population. It’s also an episode that demystifies higher ed and common first-gen experiences (e.g. feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing, changing majors, joining greek orgs, etc).”
Sponsored by First-Gen Nation, Transfer Nation, the Empowering First Generation, and ADEii Health, the Catalyst Awards recognize first-generation voices and their lasting impact on future generations and aim to be a space where everyone can be represented. This is the fifth annual year for the awards.
“On behalf of My Tribe Media and the Catalyst Awards Advisory Board, we are honored to recognize your outstanding contributions in amplifying first-gen, transfer, and adult learner narratives. Your work is reshaping public perceptions, and this award is a testament to your impact,” said La’Tonya “LT” Rease Miles, My Tribe Media and First Gen Nation Founder
The Catalyst Awards are hosted by My Tribe Media (formerly First Gen Nation), Transfer Nation, LLC, and ADEii Health and honor books (fiction and non-fiction), films, television shows, podcasts, and other media that feature first-generation characters and storylines in a given year.
