2017 fall Cronkite convocation program

Convocation Program

Processional

Welcome Dean Christopher Callahan

Keynote Speaker

Alumni Hall of Fame Induction

Presentation of Degrees

Kevin Merida, senior vice president and editor-in-chief, ESPN’s “The Undefeated”

Adelaida V. Severson, president and CEO, Bushtex Inc.

Dean Christopher Callahan

Assistant Dean B. William Silcock Associate Professor Fran Matera Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees Senior Associate Dean Kristin Gilger Associate Dean Mark Lodato Assistant Dean Rebecca Blatt

Doctoral Degree

Special Awards

Outstanding Graduate Student Jasmine Spearing-Bowen

Outstanding Undergraduate Students Taylor Bishop, Hannah Dickens, Emily Liu, Thalia Varelas, Nicole Walker

Highest Grade Point Average in Journalism Libby Allnatt

Highest Grade Point Average in Media Studies Gregory Vickers

Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society Elliott Adams, Libby Allnatt, Taylor Bishop, Taylor Clark, Hannah Dickens, Emily Liu, Andrea Neff, Mallory Prater, Adrienne St. Clair, Nicole Walker

Student Speaker Cecilya Moreno Recessional

Platform Party Guests

Kevin Merida Senior vice president and editor-in-chief of ESPN’s

“The Undefeated,” keynote speaker Cecilya Moreno Student speaker Mary Mazur General manager, Arizona PBS Frederic “Fritz” Leigh Faculty emeritus, Cronkite School Adelaida V. Severson Alumni representative and Cronkite Hall of Fame inductee

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The Cronkite School is widely recognized as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs. Rooted in the timehonored values — accuracy, responsibility, objectivity, integrity — that characterize its namesake, the school fosters journalistic excellence and ethics among students as they master the practical professional skills they need to succeed in the digital media journalism world of today and tomorrow.

The Cronkite School’s 2,000 students consistently lead the country in national competitions. Over the past decade, Cronkite has been No. 1 in the nation in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence competition and the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts awards and has finished in the top 10 in the Hearst Journalism Awards each year. Cronkite students annually win more than 100 journalism and public relations awards.

Students are guided by a faculty that is made up of both award-winning professional journalists and world-class media scholars. Cronkite professors include Pulitzer Prizewinning journalists, digital media thought

leaders, top TV producers and correspondents, major metropolitan newspaper editors and strategic communications experts. They are master teachers, writers and scholars who often speak around the globe on the most important topics facing journalism today.

The Cronkite School continues to lead the field of journalism education with its innovative use of the “teaching hospital” method, providing both unparalleled learning opportunities for students and important news content to the community, state, region and nation. Arizona PBS, one of the nation’s largest public television stations, is the largest media outlet operated by a journalism school in the world. Arizona PBS serves as a hub for the Cronkite School’s full-immersion professional programs and a testing ground for new approaches in journalism.

Cronkite students choose from among 13 different professional immersion programs, applying what they have learned in the classroom in real-world learning environments.

Students cover the most important issues of the day from public affairs news bureaus in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. For Arizona

About Our Graduates 10,000 alumni +

The Cronkite School has more than 10,000 alumni throughout the Valley, across the country and around the world. Many are leaders in digital media, magazines, newspapers, public relations, radio and television.

In 1993, the Cronkite School inducted its first class into the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame. The charter inductees were Al Michaels (’66), an Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster best known for anchoring “Monday Night Football,” and Bill Redeker (’71), an ABC News correspondent who covered the Middle East and the Far East during his 30 years with the network.

Other notable Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame inductees include Becky Anderson (’94), CNN International anchor; Julie Cart (’98), Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times reporter; Derrick Hall (’91), president of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Christine Devine (’87), news anchor at FOX 11 in Los Angeles; Mary Kim Titla (’85), founder of Native Youth Magazine; Ray Artigue (’76), president of The Artigue Agency; and Chip Dean (’77), director of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”

Stay connected to fellow #CronkiteNation alumni on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

PBS, they produce a nightly newscast that reaches 1.9 million households as well as a robust multimedia news website featuring in-depth regional stories. In Cronkite Noticias, bilingual students produce Spanish-language broadcast and digital stories on issues important to Arizonans.

Students in the Public Relations Lab develop campaigns for client companies, while Carnegie-Knight News21 multimedia journalists conduct national data-driven investigations into issues critical to Americans. In the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab, students use digital technologies to forge the future of journalism.

More than 100 students in many of these professional immersion programs recently collaborated to create a statewide TV special on the deadly problem of prescription painkillers. “Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction” was broadcast on all 32 major broadcast television stations in Arizona and 100 radio stations in English and Spanish. The documentary followed up on issues raised in the 2015 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award-winning documentary “Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona.”

Elsewhere at the school, the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism provides education and training to professional journalists and Cronkite Global Initiatives brings international journalists to the school for study and training.

All of these initiatives take place in a state-ofthe-art building that is unparalleled in journalism education. ASU’s investment in the school has generated national and international attention from educators and media professionals who place the school in the top tier of all U.S. journalism schools. The Times of London, The New York Times and USA Today have pointed to the Cronkite School as a leading example of changes taking place at journalism schools across the country. These prestigious publications have called the Cronkite School a pioneer, kindling a notion of new media that will shape how news is delivered and how people will stay informed in the future.

Kevin Merida

Keynote Speaker

Kevin Merida is the senior vice president and editor-in-chief of “The Undefeated,” ESPN’s media platform that explores the intersections of race, sports and culture. He leads the website’s editorial direction and provides oversight and strategy for key initiatives.

Prior to joining ESPN in 2015, Merida served as The Washington Post’s managing editor for news, features and the Universal News Desk, where he led the newspaper’s digital transformation. He was the first African-American to hold a managing editor position at the Post, which won three Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure.

Merida joined the Post in 1993 as a congressional correspondent and national political writer, covering the 1996 presidential campaign. He also was a section feature writer (1997-2001), magazine columnist (2001-2004), associate editor (2001-2008)

and national editor (2009-2013).

Under his leadership, he supervised coverage of Congress, the presidency, national politics, national security and health and science. He also oversaw reporting of key national events, such as the killing of Osama bin Laden, the BP oil spill and the battle over health care policy.

Merida started his career as a general assignment reporter for The Milwaukee Journal. From 1983-1993, he worked for The Dallas Morning News, where he served as a White House correspondent during George H.W. Bush’s presidency.

Merida is the author of “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas” with Michael Fletcher and “Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs” with Deborah Willis. He is a 1979 graduate of Boston University.

Cecilya Moreno

Student Speaker

Cecilya Moreno is graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication.

Moreno was a standout student in the Cronkite Public Relations Lab, a full-service strategic communications agency that produces campaigns and strategies for professional clients. She helped develop an extensive corporate social responsibility campaign for Wal-Mart that utilized social media. She also did audience research and social media marketing for Tarbell’s restaurant in Phoenix.

Moreno held five internships while a student. At Allstate Insurance, she executed a promotional campaign on fitness that won two Copper Anvil Awards from the Phoenix Public Relations Society of America. She also worked in special events management and promotions for Allstate.

Moreno’s other internships included editorial and marketing work at Decibel Blue and Local Lily as well as intothedarkroom,

an online resource for professional photographers.

Moreno was an active member of the Public Relations Student Society of America while at Cronkite. She also is graduating with a Certificate in Marketing and Sales Essentials from ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

Following graduation, she plans to move to California to pursue a career in integrated marketing.

Special Awards Presented Tonight

Cronkite Hall of Fame

The Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame was created in 1993 to honor the top graduates of the program and to represent the school’s more than 10,000 alumni.

Outstanding Graduate Student

This award is given to a graduate student who is nominated by Cronkite faculty for academic excellence and professional experiences.

Outstanding Undergraduate Students

This award goes to undergraduate students nominated by Cronkite faculty for excellence in academics, internships, professional experiences and extracurricular activities.

Highest Grade Point Average

Cronkite presents highest GPA awards to the top graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and

Mass Communication program and the Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Media Studies program who have the highest cumulative GPA in their respective programs.

Kappa Tau Alpha National Honor Society

This national college honor society recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism. The top 10 percent of the graduating journalism class is inducted at convocation each semester.

Student Speaker

This privilege is bestowed upon a student who represents the very best of the Cronkite School — a well-rounded individual who exhibits academic excellence and has participated in many activities outside of regular course work.

Doctor of Philosophy in Journalism and Mass Communication

Wafa Unus “A Newsman in the Nixon White House: Herbert Klein and the Creation of the Office of Communications (1969 to 1973)”

Master of Journalism and Mass Communication

Fraser Allan

Joseph Camporeale

Devin Conley

Patricio Espinoza Maria Esquinca Kianna Gardner Susan Horowitz

Andrea Jaramillo Valencia

Christopher Kopacz

Christine Lundmark Faber

Lysandra Marquez Kassidy McDonald Rodmanned Nikpour Nkiruka Omeronye

Master of Arts in Sports Journalism

John Arlia

Brittany Bowyer

Karsen Buschjost

Devin Gooden

Kyra Goodman Sara Hattis Andrew Krauss Greg Macafee

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication

Elliott Adams ***

Libby Allnatt *** ^ Saeed Alshamisi * Alexa Armes Mia Atkins

Owen Baldner * Ashley Ballard

Kourtney Balsan * Farai Bennett

Samantha Bero Maria Berrelleza

Taylor Bishop *** Rebecca Blascak * Sophie Blaylock Emily Blume ** Dannika Borges

Jacqueline Bradford * Loni Bryantt

Kaylin Burke

Jessica Carlson

Conall Casey-Waid

Andrew Chapman

Peter Cheng * Seung Yeol Cho *

Madison Conner

Joseph Constantin

Devon Cordell

Kevin Cusack

Mckenna Dalgarno

Katherine Decker

Shyntel Del Aguila *

Freesia Denaples Hannah Dickens *** ^ Wenhui Dong ** Amy Edelen

Trevor Fay Cole Feinbloom Jacqueline Flores

Kassondra Frazier Anna Furrey

Danielle Ganley * Savanah Garbani Paola Garcia Bailey Grant Sydney Greene Raymond Gurley Hattie Hayes ^ Blake Hemmel * Caitlin Hemmerle Riley Hoffman Zane Hopen Eileen Hopkins * Lauren Hornberger ^ Emily Houck * Shayla Hyde * ^ Lauren Isacksen Emi Kamezaki ** Victor Keys

Courtney Kock Alexis Kuhbander ** Erin Landry

Jenzi Langley ** Ross Leviton ** Joshua Ling Emily Liu *** Jessica Lizza * Emma Lockhart

Jaqueline Lopez Lauren Lopez Negrete * Jared McDonald

Danielle McNally *** Maria De Jesus Mejia Romero

Victoria Mendoza ** Anthony Mitchell Genesis Monserrate ** Cecilya Moreno *

Corinne Roels

Jasmine Spearing-Bowen Adrienne St. Clair Nicole Tyau Chelsea Ybanez Yu Zhang

Eric Newman Edward Poe Kyle Wilcox Annika Wolters

April Morganroth

Andrea Neff ** Elizabeth Nichols * ^ Crystal O’Connor Marcia Oppong Russell Oviatt Tyler Paley

Elizabeth Parra Valenzuela Maya Patrose Aimee Plante * Mallory Prater *** Ziluo Qiu ** Jascelyn Quick Dustin Quiroz-Clark Johana Restrepo Emily Richardson Aubrey Rumore Madeline Ryan Hector Salas Almeida Rebecca Savitz * Jason Schiffman Preston Scott-Hall *** Louisa Stanwich ** Kaylee Stock ** Jessie Stone Mila Suzich *** Judson Tomaiko Anthony Troggio Shawna Truong Olivia Turner-Tolley ** Thalia Varelas ** Alyssa Villegas * Briann Wagner Alexandra Watts ** Melanie Whyte * Saundra Wilson *** ^ Emily Zentner **

Bachelor of Arts in Sports Journalism

Raven Boone * Alexis Bowen * Andrea Boyd

Kara Brown ** Taylor Clark *** Chelcie Cruz Ryan Curry

Adonis Dees Jose Esparza Katlyn Ewens

Danielle Lincecum Theodore Manchego Liam Morales Faith Phares

Alexis Ramanjulu * Edwin Rodriguez Haley Stesiak * Jeffrey Sullivan Reinert Toft * Nicole Walker ** Amanda Whitaker

Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Media Studies

Christina Ashe

Myles Bates Nicole Beaver Afiya Bennett Savannah Bever Christina Blackman * Sophia Blake

Tamara Blevins *** April Bradley

Jennifer Bryant * Richard Caines * Robert Camacho Cheyenne Camarena * Danielle Joy Cardenas *** Jody Carroll

Casey Coggins

Carly June Cohen Sthefanie Cruz Nathaniel Davis Arin Davis

Mackenzie Denoyer Delaney Didier

Caroline Dobbs Natalia Dorantes

Daisy Dragos Stephen Ellis Heather Emerson Amanda Everest

Allyson Evers

Ashley Gardner

Ashley Gardner Sean Gilchrist Erin Gillett

James Glaser

Felicia Gonzales Jared Gonzales

Jazmin Greer * Consuelo Grubb

Honors designations

Fernanda Guerrero-Irish Catherine Guyot Jamie Halper

Gabrielle Harkins Trena Johnson

Thomas Jouganatos ** Derek Krueger Rachel Lannen *** Ava Lasiewski Jillian Lerner *** Brianne Levitch *** Taylor Liddle Jazzlyn Liggins ** Yeji Lim Lacy Litten *** Amy Madanat Andrew Martin Brianna Mawcinitt *** Juli McCabe

Daniel McDonagh ** Brian McMahon Kimberly McMahon Lexi Mills ** Jasmin Mohib Bradley Morrell * April Needham Mitchell Noble ** Janiessa Norice Janiessa Norice Craig Norton *** Samantha Olinger * Gina Orlando Natalie Paape Katie Papen Lauren Pence Ashley Petit-Frere Alanah Phillips Keisha Phillips-Mitchell

Academic recognition is granted to undergraduate candidates only:

* Cum Laude – GPA of 3.40 to 3.59

** Magna Cum Laude – GPA of 3.60 to 3.79

Maria Portillo

Nicholas Poteat

Christopher Pullins *** Ashley Reynolds *** Brianna Ricci Megan Rice Alec Rivera

Nicole Rosetti *** Morgan Roush Amir Sadri Veronica Santos Michael Savas Vinessa Scott Jessica Sepulveda Ian Shea-Cahir Gregory Shearer Elisia Simmons Janelle Sims Danica Smith ** Sarah Smith Hunter Smith Nicole Spitzer ** Philip Steigleder Danielle Stevens Abigail Stover Laura Sucatre Ashton Thorpe Brenda Torres Krysten Vandegrift Gregory Vickers Danielle Warren Nicholas Way Vicki White *** Brittany Wiley Terell Wilkins Tyler Worthington * Tamara Zimmer

*** Summa Cum Laude – GPA of 3.80 and above ^ Graduate of Barrett, The Honors College

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

ASU’s journalism program was named in honor of former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite in 1984.

The relationship started when Tom Chauncey, longtime owner of the CBS affiliate in Phoenix and a leading supporter of journalism education at ASU, contacted his old friend in an effort to advance the program. An endowment on behalf of the program was soon established and the school was named after “the most trusted man in America.”

Over the next quarter of a century, Cronkite lent much more than his name to the school. He was closely involved — advising leadership, guiding students and faculty and traveling to Arizona each year to personally give the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism to one of the nation’s top journalists. The most special relationship, though, was with “our students,” as Cronkite would always call them. Young women and men, some with parents barely old enough to remember Cronkite behind the anchor desk, lit up when he walked into a classroom. They hung on his every word as he thoughtfully answered their questions about the profession he so loved. They lined up just to shake his hand, and he loved every minute of it.

In what turned out to be Cronkite’s last visit to ASU in 2007 before declining health prevented him from traveling, a group of 100 students gathered with just a few minutes of notice that Cronkite was in the building. He held them spellbound as he spoke about covering World War II, Vietnam, Apollo, Watergate and presidents from Truman to Reagan — and of how important “our school” was to him. Although Cronkite died on July 17, 2009, before he was able to visit the new building, he remains an ever-present part of the school’s heartbeat and direction.

Cronkite’s legacy lives on in the spirit and passion with which the school teaches both the skills to do journalism in today’s media environment and the time-honored ethics and news values necessary to do it in the manner that would make him proud.

The Cronkite School has established a special memorial fund in Cronkite’s name. For more information on the fund and to learn more about Cronkite’s legacy and career, visit cronkite.asu.edu/rememberingcronkite.

Cronkite Faculty

Craig M. Allen Ph.D., Ohio University

Melanie Asp Alvarez M.L.S., Arizona State University

Douglas A. Anderson Ph.D., Southern Illinois University

Marianne Barrett Ph.D., Michigan State University

Rebecca Blatt M.B.A., American University

Paola Boivin B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sharon Bramlett-Solomon Ph.D., Indiana University

Peter Byck B.F.A., California Institute of the Arts

Christopher Callahan M.P.A., Harvard University

Michael Casavantes Ph.D., Arizona State University

Monica Chadha Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

John E. Craft Ph.D., Ohio University

Sarah Cohen M.A., University of Maryland

Steve Crane M.B.A., University of Maryland

Kevin Dale B.S., Kansas State University

Steve Doig B.A., Dartmouth College

Leonard Downie Jr. M.A., The Ohio State University

Heather Lovett Dunn B.A., University of Mississippi

Tom Feuer B.A., University of California, Los Angeles

Steve Filmer B.S., Boston University

Kristin Gilger M.A., University of Nebraska

Dan Gillmor B.A., University of Vermont

Dawn Gilpin Ph.D., Temple University

Mark Hass B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo

Venita Hawthorne James B.A., Lincoln University

Retha Hill M.A., Arizona State University

Jim Jacoby M.A.S., Arizona State University

Brett Kurland M.B.A., Northwestern University

K. Hazel Kwon Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo

Andrew Leckey M.A., University of Missouri

Christina Leonard B.A., University of Oklahoma

Susan Lisovicz B.A., William Paterson University

Mark Lodato M.Ed., Arizona State University

Andrés Martinez J.D., Columbia University

Fran R. Matera Ph.D., University of Miami

John Misner B.L.S., Arizona State University

Eric Newton M.A., University of Birmingham

Jacquee Petchel B.A., Arizona State University

Jessica Pucci M.A., University of Missouri

Mark Reda B.A., University of California, Los Angeles

Sada J. Reed Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Virgil Renzulli B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Walter V. Robinson B.A., Northeastern University

Rick Rodriguez B.A., Stanford University

Vanessa Ruiz B.S., Florida International University

Dennis E. Russell Ph.D., University of Utah

Joseph Russomanno Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder

Fernanda Santos M.S., Boston University

Kenneth L. Shropshire J.D., Columbia University

B. William Silcock Ph.D., University of Missouri

Leslie-Jean Thornton Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Julia Wallace B.S., Northwestern University

Xu Wu Ph.D., University of Florida

Affiliated Cronkite Faculty

Lindsey Collom B.A., Arizona State University

Valeria Fernández B.A., Arizona State University

Jason Manning M.A., George Mason University

Terry Greene Sterling M.F.A., Goucher College

Faculty Emeriti

Troy F. Crowder M.A., University of Iowa

Robert Ellis M.A., Case Western Reserve University

Mary-Lou Galician Ed.D., Memphis State University

Donald G. Godfrey Ph.D., University of Washington

Roy K. Halverson Ph.D., University of Illinois

Frederic “Fritz” Leigh Ed.D., Arizona State University

Tim McGuire J.D., William Mitchell College of Law

Cronkite Endowment Board of Trustees

Executive Committee

Anita Helt

President

Vice president and general manager, ABC15/ KNXV-TV

David J. Bodney

Past president Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Christopher Callahan Dean, Cronkite School

Tom Chauncey

Chair, Nominations Committee Attorney, Gust Rosenfeld

Board Members

Ray Artigue, chief advisor, Artigue Advisors

Susan Bitter Smith, executive director, Southwest Cable Communications Association

Art Brooks, president and CEO, Arizona Broadcasters Association

Elizabeth Murphy Burns, president and CEO, Morgan Murphy Media

Paula Casey, executive director, Arizona Newspapers Association

Araceli De Leon, president and regional general manager, Telemundo Arizona

Dean Ditmer, president and general manager, 12 News

David Eichler, founder and creative director, Decibel Blue Creative Marketing and PR

Elvira Espinoza, chief communications officer, Raza Development Fund

Kristin Gilger, senior associate dean, Cronkite School

Derrick Hall, president and CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott Harkey, president, Owens Harkey Advertising

Brian Hogan, senior vice president and general manager, FOX Sports Arizona

Richard Howe, executive vice president and general manager, KAZT-TV

Gordon James, owner, Gordon C. James Public Relations

Laura Jordan, director of benefactor relations, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Faith Community

John Hatfield

Chair, Development Committee

Vice president of communications, APS

Win Holden

Chair, Assessment Committee

Publisher, Arizona Highways Magazine

Fran Mallace Chair, Luncheon Committee Vice president, Cox Media

Diane Veres Chair, Mentoring Committee President and general manager, Clear Channel Outdoor

Susan Karis, vice president sales, Hubbard Radio Phoenix

Carol Klimas, vice president of communications, BIG YAM

Beau Lane, founder and CEO, LaneTerralever Linda Little, president, Phoenix market, iHeartMedia

Michael Mallace, general manager, Sierra H Broadcasting

Mary Mazur, general manager, Arizona PBS

Art Mobley, CEO, AdviceAd Mary Morrison, Mary M Media Ed Munson, vice president and general manager, CBS 5 and 3TV, KTVK-TV

Jim Paluzzi, vce president, division of public service, Rio Salado College, KJZZ/KBAQ Mi-Ai Parrish, president and publisher, The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com

Tim Riester, president and CEO, RIESTER Mark Rodman, vice president and general manager, Fox 10/KSAZ-TV Phoenix

Ray Schey, publisher, Phoenix Business Journal

Alan Silverman, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Cable One Matt Silverman, vice president and managing director, R&R Partners

Robert Stieve, editor, Arizona Highways Magazine

Scott Sutherland, vice president and market manager, Bonneville Media

Clancy Woods, president, D Mobile

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