UCO’s Gonzalez receives broadcast excellence award

University of Central Oklahoma student Kaleb Gonzalez, (pictured) a junior professional media major from Blair, Oklahoma, recently received an Award of Excellence at the 2023 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts in the short-form documentary category.

The BEA Festival of Media Arts is an international, digital media and broadcast competition for faculty and students, with more than 300 participating schools. This year’s competition received more than 1,650 submissions, making this a remarkable achievement for Gonzalez and a testament to his skills and talent in filmmaking.

His short documentary film titled “Val the Boxer” portrays the life and career of an up-and-coming amateur boxer, with a complicated father-son relationship that became a source of inspiration and shaped his life.

“The UCO Department of Mass Communication is beaming with pride over

Kaleb’s success, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg for ‘Val the Boxer’ as he prepares to conquer the film festival circuit,” said Milos Ajdinovic, assistant professor of mass communication at Central.

“Our students have worked hard, making breathtaking films that are finally getting their moment in the limelight, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see them shared with the world.”

Gonzalez’s accolades stretch beyond his recent award. Through UCO, he has been involved in student-led documentary projects, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant, which centers on the history of boarding schools in Oklahoma.

BEA Festival Award winners will be celebrated at the BEA Best of Festival Awards April 17, in Las Vegas, which includes networking events, workshops, media pedagogy sessions and more.

To view a complete list of BEA Festival Award winners, visit beaweb.org/festival/.