Piedmont students involved in Roar Student Media won 15 Pinnacle Awards at the National College Media Conference, held Oct. 30 through Nov. 2 in New Orleans.
“This proves that some of the best student media in the nation is being produced at Piedmont University,” said Dr. Joe Dennis, chair of the mass communications department. “These awards not only showcase the outstanding talent of our mass communications students but also demonstrate the array of educational activities happening at Piedmont.”
Competing in the Division III classification, which includes colleges and universities with less than 5,000 students, Piedmont students earned a record five first-place Pinnacle Awards, the highest award in college media.
Senior film and documentary production major Sophie Haines took top honors in the Best Video/PSA category for her “Pardon My Overmodulating Promo,” a 60-second commercial for a radio show hosted by a fellow student. The multitalented Haines also earned first-place recognition for Best Column, “Bent, Torn & Shredded,” a personal essay reflecting how women are sexualized from an early age.
Senior sports communications major Jessica Sconyers also earned two first-place awards, both for photography. An action photo of Piedmont Lions baseball player Kolton Hicks took the crown for Best Sports News Photo. Sconyers and senior mass communications major Michelle Cates took first place in Best Photo Package for their photo story “Nursing students learn through disaster,” showcasing highlights of a disaster drill exercise held on Piedmont’s campus in April.
Senior mass communications major Paige Kluba won the top prize for Best Sports Feature for “Kicking Cancer: Still’s 2023 season 13 years in the making,” a story about Piedmont soccer player Ashley Still’s battle with cancer and return to the pitch.
Roar Student Media earned its first-ever podcasting award, with senior sports communication major Eric Edmondson taking second place for Best Podcast for his narrative podcast, “Against All Odds, Against All Comers: The Story of the 2021 Atlanta Braves.” Sports communications graduate Matt Kodrowski earned a second-place award for Best Audio Talk/Entertainment Program, “Pardon My Overmodulation.”
Senior sports communications major Chloe Spradlin earned two second-place awards for her writing. Her story “Division Bri,” about Piedmont women’s tennis player Bri Laidman’s life-changing decision to pursue a Division III school, earned an award for Best Profile. She also took second place for Best Game Story for “Men’s and Women’s Swimming Top Independent South Conference Mountain,” an article about the conference champion Piedmont swimming teams.
Piedmont students collected four third-place awards at the conference:
- Senior mass communications major Alexis Baumgardner’sprofile photo of fellow student Jarrett Rayfor Best Portrait;
- Kluba’s photo of the Piedmont Symposiumfor Best General News Photo;
- Sconyer’s photo of Lions’ baseball player Kyle Carlson, Best Sports Feature Photo;
- Cates’ photo illustration for Nike shoes, Best Single-Media Ad Campaign
Rounding out the honors for Roar Student Media were two honorable mention awards. Senior mass communication major Nahomi Solorzano and Haines earned honors for Best Use of Short Video for News/Information for their coverage of the PAL Games, an annual Piedmont event that connects Piedmont students with special needs students from area schools. And graphic design alum Elizabeth Carter earned honors for Best Feature Photo, covering a Piedmont event in which students made pottery at Splashe Art Studio in Clarkesville.
“What’s especially impressive is that our students earned awards in all aspects of media, from audio to video to writing to photography to design,” Dennis said. “It demonstrates that our mass communications department strives for and achieves excellence in all areas of mass communications.”
The 15 national awards — a record haul for Piedmont — caps off an incredibly successful year for Roar Student Media. Last spring, students took home 14 awards from the Georgia College Press Association, including an overall first-place award for www.piedmontroar.com as the top small-college student media website in the state.
