Alumna Kennedy Dendy Update January 10, 2022
Posted by Mia Moody-Ramirez in : Uncategorized , add a commentJPR&NM graduate (‘19) Kennedy Dendy has wrapped up two years at KEZI in Eugene, Oregon. She has accepted a reporter position with Action News Jax in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dendy received two Emmy nominations alongside her KEZI team.
Before KEZI 9 News, she interned at CBS This Morning in New York City. Working with the features team, Kennedy produced a variety of daily content.
Kennedy graduated from Baylor University with a degree in journalism. While at Baylor, she worked as a reporter, anchor and executive producer for Lariat TV News, where she covered many stories, including the controversial Shawn Oakman trial and acquittal.
Kennedy was born and raised in Texas and is looking forward to telling western Oregon’s stories. When she’s not covering the news, Kennedy loves to watch movies, play tennis and find new restaurants to try.
She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Alumna Moves to Healthcare Position January 10, 2022
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Danielle Marchell (’13) is excited to join the Austin-based digital health company Everly Health as its Senior Corporate Communications Manager.
In this role, she leads all corporate communications for Everly Health and its B2B division, Everly Health Solutions. It is a leader in at-home health & wellness testing and diagnostic care.
A native of San Jose, Calif., Marchell specialized in public relations at Baylor University. She was the public relations chair for Alpha Chi Omega. She served as an intern at Baylor Athletic Communications, and also held internships as a web intern KGO-TV ABC 7 and a PR intern at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
Alumna Wins Prestigious Award January 3, 2022
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Alumna Nina Thornton was recently promoted to Senior Marketing Manager at Zymo Research Corp. (a biotech company in Irvine, California) and awarded the company’s 2021 Young Leadership Award.
She graduated from Baylor in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Film and Digital Media. She interned for a luxury lifestyle magazine the summer before her senior year and after graduation, interned with a digital marketing firm in California. After some very valuable lessons there, she went on to work as a consultant for nutraceutical companies at a health-focused marketing agency.
After about a year and a half, she decided to go into biotech in hopes of finding a company that had a significant impact on peoples’ lives. She took a Digital Marketing Specialist position at Zymo Research, and has been there ever since.
“I am deeply grateful for my time in the JPR&NM department at Baylor and owe much of my success to the foundation that was built there,” she said. “I cannot express how influential Dr. Maxey Parrish, Carol Perry, and Kevin Tankersley were and how relevant their courses were to my roles after graduation.”
Leading marketing for a biotech company during the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most unpredictable and chaotic experiences of her career but she was prepared for it because of her time at Baylor.
She currently oversees all marketing campaigns, strategies, media buying, content creation and public relations. Zymo has hundreds of products from DNA/RNA extraction kits, epigentics and microbiomics to sample collection devices. Our products currently support hundreds of COVID-19 testing workflows all over the world.
Baylor Alumna Earns Master’s Degree January 3, 2022
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Baylor JPR&NM alumna Madelyn Gee reached a major milestone in December—she graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas in Austin.
While attending UT, she worked with numerous publications, including Austin Monthly, Black Texas Magazine and more.
She wrote 150+ pieces as a Digital Intern for BlackNewsAlerts.com by “UrbanNewsroom” and is the Lifestyle Writer of Sage Magazine.
She now serves as a staff writer for the Black culture publication Blavity, Inc., as well as freelances for entertainment publications including Mediaversity Reviews and Black Girl Nerds.
She graduated from Baylor University with bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in Film/Digital Media. At Baylor, she worked as a staff writer and wrote numerous articles for the “Baylor Lariat” and the “Bundle Magazine.”
She also served as the Vice President of the Baylor chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
She hopes to achieve her dream of creating her own TV shows and movies in the future.
Alumna Welcomes New Baylor Cub to Family January 3, 2022
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Savanah Landerholm, an alumna with a master’s degree in international journalism, and her husband Scott, are excited to welcome a new addition to the family.
Noelle Aspen was born November 19, 2021, at home. She is their third daughter.
Landerholm is working remotely full time for Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Kennedy Dendy Accepts New Position January 3, 2022
Posted by Mia Moody-Ramirez in : Uncategorized , add a commentBaylor JPR&NM alumna Kennedy Dendy (‘19) has accepted a position with Action News Jax in Jacksonville, Florida.
“I’m so thankful to everyone who has supported me these past two years and beyond — and for my KEZI team who has allowed me to grow beyond what I could’ve expected,” she said in a Facebook post.
Kennedy Dendy joined the KEZI 9 News team as a news reporter in January 2020. Starting in April 2021, also anchored on weekend mornings.
Before KEZI 9 News, she interned at CBS This Morning in New York City. Working with the features team, Kennedy produced a variety of daily content.
Kennedy graduated from Baylor University with a degree in journalism. While at Baylor, she worked as a reporter, anchor and executive producer for Lariat TV News, where she covered many stories, including the controversial Shawn Oakman trial and acquittal.
Kennedy was born and raised in Texas and is looking forward to telling western Oregon’s stories. When she’s not covering the news, Kennedy loves to watch movies, play tennis and find new restaurants to try.
Greetings from Department Chair Mia Moody-Ramirez January 1, 2022
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Greetings and welcome to the Fall 2021 Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media newsletter. We are excited to debut “Castellaw Connect,” the new format of our alumni newsletter. In this inaugural issue, we spotlight the accomplishments of faculty, alumni and students. We also share reaccreditation, facilitates and fundraising updates. We’ve been busy, and we have lots of exciting news to share!
Click this link to view Castellaw Connect
In the fall, Baylor JPR&NM completed a site visit for reaccreditation by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). The reaccreditation process began with a rigorous self-examination by faculty and staff of nine standards that include curriculum, outcomes assessment, diversity, facilities, oversight and several other areas.
Following the self study, a team of educators and professionals visited our department in October. The team talked to us, our current students, alumni, administrators, and our colleagues in other departments to further assess our program. I am excited to report that we have been recommended for reaccreditation.
This is an outstanding accomplishment for our department, since there are only 117 schools accredited by ACEJMC in the country; 114 are fully accredited, and three three are on provisional status. We are fortunate to have dedicated faculty, supportive administrators, outstanding staff, great students, a low teacher-student ratio, excellent retention and job/graduate school placement rates, and generous scholarship funds.
Updating our facilities continues to be a challenge. We have been able to make some changes to give Castellaw a more modern look. Since 2018, we have converted three classrooms into collaborative learning environments. Our classrooms feature new seating, moveable tables, additional monitors, and whiteboards that are more conducive to collaborative work and discussion. We added sofas, rugs and tables to two outer hallways on the second floor to make them common spaces where students can relax and/or study.
We also highlighted the work of students, alumni and faculty. A faculty scholarship wall features books written by faculty members, and numerous exhibits spotlight the photography of faculty members, alumni and students. We also have been updating our bulletin boards frequently to better highlight upcoming events, scholarships and trends in diversity.
On the horizon, we’re updating our breakroom/mailroom, automating second-floor toilets, updating the carpet in our largest classroom and adding cabinets to our photo equipment check-out room. We’ll continue to make improvements and renovations as our budget allows.
Baylor Homecoming
This year’s homecoming was extra special. During the event, we:
- Highlighted the accomplishments of retired faculty members Carol Perry, Doug Ferdon and David McHam.
- Launched the News and Newsmakers exhibit, which is housed in our department’s reading room.
- Highlighted the accomplishments of the Life and Legacy of War Correspondence Sharon Kay Herbaugh (’77).
Advisory Board
Advisory Board members help the department by hiring alumni, speaking to classes, reviewing student projects and portfolios, fundraising, and offering feedback on our department’s curriculum.
We are excited to welcome four new advisory board members.
Alumni Updates
In this issue, we have numerous updates to share, which is one of the reasons we decided to expand our newsletter.
Faculty Accolades
During the summer of 2019, Dr. Clark Baker taught photography to 20 migrants and refugees through Centro Interculturale di Aiuto ed Orientamento (CIAO) in Syracuse, Sicily, and plans to continue this work in 2022. His work is highlighted in the exhibit, Migrant Journeys. CIAO offers services to help participants adapt and integrate into Italian society.
Baylor University celebrated the opening of the Baylor Black Gospel Archive and Listening Center, which celebrates the hard work of JPR&NM faculty member, Professor Bob Darden. Located on the garden level of Baylor’s Moody Memorial Library, the archive and listening center marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, which was launched in 2006 and is the world’s largest initiative to identify, acquire, digitize, catalog and make available America’s fast-vanishing legacy of vinyl from the “golden age” of gospel music.
Dr. Cassy Burleson received the inaugural Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication Award. She was selected for her innovative teaching practices and exceptional commitment to her students’ education and post-graduation placement.
The Baylor Line’s Editor Jon Platt interviewed Professor Curtis Callaway in his Direct Line Conversation series in this podcast titled, “Curtis Callaway has the World by the Frame: The Man, the Myth, the Legend.” It highlights his mother’s love of art and how it led to his career in photography. He talks about close connections with students and even serving as the best man for an alumnus.The end offers a glimpse at Kaye Callaway’s near-death experience after she fell while on a photo shoot with him.
Research Update
President Linda Livingstone announced that Baylor University has achieved Research 1 status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, joining the nation’s top research institutions as a doctoral university with high research activity and as a preeminent Christian research university. This achievement came two years earlier than expected.
Our department helped contribute to that achievement with numerous books, book chapters, almost $40,000 in external grants and 41 journal articles since our prior accreditation site visit. Our faculty presented research this fall virtually for the European Public Relations Education and Research Association, and served as panelists for the Public Relations Society of America’s International Conference. Our department also was well represented at AEJMC 2021. Dr. Marlene Neill served as a panelist for two sessions and presented two coauthored papers. Dr. Alec Tefertiller served as a panelist for two sessions and presented three research papers. Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez served as keynote speaker for a session, served on four panels and co-presented a paper. She is serving as guest co-editor of the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly special issue on the Black Lives Matter Movement. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (JMCQ) is AEJMC’s flagship journal.
JPR&NM Fundraising & Development
Thanks to generous donations of friends of JPR&NM and the hard work of our department’s development officer Kristyn Miller, the increased level of alumni engagement has resulted in a growth in donations. In 2019, a little more than $50,000 was raised, made up of 98 gifts from 83 donors. In 2020, that number nearly doubled to a little under $100,000, and funds were from 119 gifts and 102 donors. And in 2021, the department raised more than half a million dollars–$587,534.98 to be exact.
Earlier this year, JPR&NM was blessed to fund the Moody-Ramirez Belden Endowed Scholarship for Diversity. This scholarship is a collaborative effort between Tom Belden and Janice Miller, Ella Prichard and myself that we began discussing with Professor Bob Darden in the fall of 2020.
We wanted to create a scholarship for journalism students similar to Baylor’s Trailblazer Scholars Program, which was designed to recognize the importance of fostering diversity and mutual respect at Baylor University.
The scholarship will be awarded to a student who is a member of NABJ. Other major gifts include a $50,000 scholarship endowed by a retired Air Force Colonel whose career as a public information officer for the military was shaped by her time as a journalism student. She said Dr. Sara Stone was so influential in her life that she dedicated the scholarship in her honor.
Financial aid is a critical part of most students’ education. Currently, about 70 percent of Baylor students are on financial assistance or scholarship aid. Our department offers nearly $200,000 in annual scholarship funds to students. An additional $40,000 is set aside for incoming freshman and transferring journalism majors. The amount offered in scholarships is more than any other department in the College of Arts & Sciences. Current journalism majors must submit applications with all required material by March 18.
Incoming freshman and transfer students have until March 6. For more information, contact me or click this link: https://www.baylor.edu/journalism/index.php?id=859640.
In Memoriam
Sadly, we highlight here the lives of the following distinguished alumni/faculty who have passed away since September:
JPR&NM Graduates
Congratulations to this semester’s graduates. Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media had 15 students earn their diplomas! All, except five, have jobs or are planning to go to graduate school!
I am excited to report I was given the thumbs up from faculty members to serve three more years as chair of JPR&NM. I look forward to taking the department to greater heights. In this episode of the KWBU Central Texas Leadership series, Nan Holmes and I discuss leadership:tinyurl.com/y2cgzkz4..
Thank you for your continued support.
I wish you all good health, success and many blessings in 2022!
Sincerely,
—Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D.
