Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State junior from Brandon is 2018 winner of the top journalism award given by a regional organization for higher education students.
Emmalyne J. Kwasny, who is focusing on journalism in the university’s Department of Communication, has been named the Southeast Journalism Conference’s College Journalist of the Year.
As editor-in-chief of The Reflector, MSU’s twice-weekly broadsheet, she also was honored with fourth place in the Best of the South special event reporter/editor category and third in design and page layout during the onsite competition.
Formed in the late 1980s, SEJC now includes some three dozen public and private schools. This year’s convention at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, had more than 400 entries in the submitted categories. Participants also took part in separate on-site journalistic challenges.
Kwasny, known to most as Emmie, is a home-school graduate. At MSU, she is a President’s List Scholar and member of the Shackouls Honors College, among other academic achievements.
Unlike most SEJC categories, the top journalist selection is based on a submitted essay, copies of three published articles and accompanying reference letters. “Commitment and Responsibility to Journalism” was the title of Kwasny’s essay.
“Commitment and responsibility are characteristics of a leader,” she wrote. “I have learned being one can often be lonely. Being committed and responsible means not letting others influence my decision or dedication to journalism.”
Though admitting the commitment “often causes me to miss other opportunities,” she closed by declaring “but I thrive off journalism. It is what I love doing because it gives me a purpose, prevents me from being selfish, challenges me and constantly teaches me something new. I would not have it any other way.”
During the summer of 2017, Kwasny interned in Jackson with the Clarion-Ledger. In his letter of support, Steven Ward said she “demonstrated tremendous effort and growth during the three months she was here” and that her “work ethic matched her endless energy and positive attitude.
“Emmalyne was one of the best interns I’ve ever managed,” added Ward, the daily’s news director.
A second support letter came from Frances O. McDavid, longtime MSU journalism instructor and Reflector adviser.
“During my 30 years working with journalism students, I have been associated with few students as dedicated to excellence in journalism,” McDavid wrote. “Emmalyne has excellent reporting, editing and design abilities, along with a commitment to lead her staff to high levels of achievement.”
McDavid said Kwasny is the third Reflector leader to receive journalist-of-the-year honors during her time as adviser that began in the late 1990s.
In the judging categories, The Reflector finished second in overall onsite competition, third in the submitted best newspaper category and 10th in submitted website.
Other individual SEJC winners from MSU include (by hometowns):
BAY SPRINGS—Christopher B. Lowe, a sophomore business information systems major, 10th place in submitted opinion/editorial writing.
OLIVE BRANCH—Steven Weirich, a senior economics major, fifth place in submitted opinion/editorial writing.
OXFORD—Taylor Rayburn, a senior communication/journalism major, sixth place in submitted sports writing.
ROUND ROCK, Texas—Joshua A. “Josh” Beck, a senior communication/public relations major, third place in submitted multimedia.
SPRINGDALE, Arkansas—Hunter Cloud, a freshman communication/journalism major, third place in on-site sports writing.
The Reflector is online at www.reflector-online.com.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.