J&PR students, faculty accumulate numerous honors

By Susan Wiesinger



Chico State Journalism & Public Relations continues to build on its reputation as a prestigious program, with its students and faculty members collecting more than 55 awards for academics and research since 2010.

Students who recieved Rawlins awards Gabriel Sandoval and Elizabeth Castillo (center) were 2016 recipients of the Lt. Robert Merton Rawlins Award. Sandoval was nominated by Professor Emeritus Dave Waddell (above left) and Castillo was nominated by Dr. Susan Wiesinger. The winners are shown above with Angela Trethewey, dean of the College of Communication and Education (right). Photo Courtesy: Sarah Fry

Nearly half of the awards the department has received in the past six years were earned in national competitive selections.

Several scholarships and awards students have acquired are from prominent organizations such as Dow Jones, ProPublica and Google.

Here is the full list of awards and recipients in Chico State’s Journalism and PR program from 2010-2016:

Student awards
  • 56 total awards
  • 24 national, competitively selected
  • 22 statewide, competitively selected
  • 10 Chico State, competitively selected

Asian American Journalists Association's VOICES Program: 2013, Tercius Bufete

California College Media Association Career Development Scholarship: 2014, Risa Johnson

California Newspaper Foundation Internship Awards: 2010, Robin Epley; 2011, Benjamin Mullin, The Sacramento Bee; 2012, Kacey Gardner; 2013, Anthony Siino, The Sacramento Bee; 2014, Katrina Cameron, Karl Travis, Quinn Western; 2015, Ashiah Scharaga, The Sacramento Bee; 2017, Molly Sullivan

Cengage Learning Student Speech Video Contest, Grand Prize: 2014, Morgan Dixon

Chico State Undergrad Awards for Research and Creativity, Chico State: 2011, Serena
Cervantes; 2012, Tyler Ash; 2014, Juniper Rose

Chips Quinn Scholar: 2015, Katrina Cameron, Contra Costa Times; Mozes Zarate, The Wall Street Journal

Chris Hilbert Outstanding Chico State Friend Award: 2014, Aleksander Irvin

Dow Jones News Fund internship: 2014, Bill Hall, San Francisco Chronicle, University of Texas, Austin.

Earl Squire Behrens Scholarship from Sacramento Press Club: 2014, Quinn Western; 2016, Gabriel Sandoval

Google Journalism Fellowship: 2014, Benjamin Mullin

Chico State’s Jackie Faris-Rees Student Leadership Award: 2015, Aleksander Irvin

James Foley Memorial Scholarship in International Photojournalism: 2015, Emily Teague

Forrest Hartman Broadcast Film Critics Association Grant: 2017, Jared Shibuya

Hearst Journalism Awards: 2016, Bianca Quilantan, features

Knight-CUNY Summer Internship Program: 2015, Mozes Zarate, The Wall Street Journal; 2017, Gabriel Sandoval

Chico State’s Lieutenant Robert Merton Rawlins Award: 2010, Skylar Young; 2011, Lauren Beaven; 2012, Jenna Valdespino; 2014, Aleksander Irvin and Quinn Western; 2015, Dylan Wakefield; 2016, Elizabeth Castillo and Gabriel Sandoval.

National Association of Black Journalists Visual Task Force Scholarship: 2014, Quinn Western

National Association of Hispanic Journalists Rubén Salazar Scholarship: 2017, Gabriel Sandoval

National Communication Association panel: 2016, Britney Witherspoon, Philadelphia, Pa.

Naughton Fellowship: 2014, Benjamin Mullin, The Poynter Institute

Online News Association Student Newsroom: 2013, Tercius Bufete, Atlanta, Ga.; 2014, Quinn Western, Chicago; 2015, Ernesto Rivera, Los Angeles

Chico State’s College of Communication & Education Outstanding Student Leader Award: 2011, Megan McCourt; 2012, Sara Nielsen

POLITICO Journalism Institute: 2017, Elizabeth Castillo

ProPublica’s Emerging Reporters Program: 2015, Gabriel Sandoval

Sacramento Press Club scholarship: 2010, Robin Epley; 2017, Bianca Quilantan (Nereida Skelton award)

Scripps Howard Foundation Award at Chico State: 2014, Mozes Zarate, The Sacramento Bee; 2015, Jose Olivar, The Sacramento Bee

Scripps Howard Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition: 2010, Jennifer Siino, Japan.

Scripps Howard Foundation Hispanic Link News Service: 2012, Almendra Carpizo; 2013, Juniper Rose

Scripps Howard Foundation Semester in Washington: 2010, Megan McCourt

Sports Reporting Training Camp, sponsored by the College Media Institute: 2016, Sully Engels and Nick Martinez-Esquibel, Nashville, Tenn.

Students who recieved Rawlins awards Sully Engels and Nick Martinez-Esquibel mug it up outside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. Engels and Martinez-Esquibel were selected to attend the annual Sports Reporting Training Camp, sponsored by the College Media Institute, Feb. 12-13, 2016. The camp was held at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., and featured sports reporters from a range of media and sports organizations, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post and the Tennessee Titans. The trip to Nashville for the two journalism majors was made possible by generous alumni donations to Chico State J&PR. Photo Courtesy: Sully Engels