(Staff, STT, USVI, April 2024).
For the third consecutive year, Comm majors/minors at the University of the Virgin Islands participated in the Southern Regional Press Institute at Savannah State University and were recognized for their outstanding reporting and writing skills. Students entered articles published between January 2022 and January 2023.
Reporters and contributing writers of the online student newspaper, https://uvivoice.org/ 2.0 included Sarah Larsen (National Student Exchange program from Denmark), Shugga Rosenbloom (remote program who resides in Cannes,-France), Felicia Felix, Devon Pelle, Elijah Salem, Cheryl Hendrickson Thomas, Gimel Pinto, Angelique Lettsome, Nico Thomas, WillJ Steger, Faika Salem, Kalyna Nielson, Calyse Garvey, Kyra Edwards, Nathan Carroll, Jahmoi Benjamin, and Jadah Jarvis.
Winners received recognition and awards in various categories during the Student Media Awards luncheon on the SSC campus and were the only college to receive Special Virtual Admittance in the 2024 SRPI hosted by the media department at SSC. Shugga Rosenbloom, logged in from France and said, “The journalists from the other schools showcased their best writing(s) the list of entries was longer this year, and the competition from this year’s submissions, pushed us to try to do even better next year.”
The competition was extremely competitive this year and UVI student articles were judged against student journalists from college newspapers located at the campuses of Bethune Cookman, Augusta State, North Carolina Central College, and Savannah State.
Categories/winners included Best Opinion Story, “The backlash Against Angel Reese and the Need for Inclusive Athletic Environments” (Michael Bell), Best News Photography, “A Whale of a Find.” Sarah Larsen; Best Communications Campaign, “2023 UVIABJ Journalism Summit,” Shugga Rosenbloom, Felisha Felix, Yari Munoz, Kyra Edwards, Will J Steger,
Nico Thomas, Sydney Taylor, Jahmoi Benjamin, and Jadah Jarvis; and Best Advertising Campaign,”Cruzian Xmas, Yes Virginia” (Felisha Felix, Kyra Edwards, and Kalyna Nelson).
Great job UVIABJ. Making marks that can never be erased.