Alumni Notes: Successes and Achievements
RJ Vogt, a College Scholars Program alumnus, is the 2015 recipient of the Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) Education Foundation. RJ, writing for the campus newspaper The Daily Beacon, was chosen by best-selling novelist Michael Koryta, a former newspaper reporter.
"The best columnists are those who prioritize story over voice," Koryta writes in his judge's comments, "and RJ Vogt excels in this area. Vogt displays not only unusual writing talent, but also the ability to conceive of - and then execute - stories from a unique perspective. Rather than settle for the traditional point of view, he constantly seeks to find the best lens for the story, and then writes with subtle power."
Former NSNC President, Benjamin Pollock said of the winner: "Vogt takes the column craft seriously with appropriate reporting and finding unique angles. He blends a meditation on Martin Luther King Jr. with watching Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston playing LBJ on stage, and meeting him afterward. Vogt in exploring a homeless camp sees residents burn a free weekly for fuel, noting the little newspaper just folded. He describes the house and routines of a disabled veteran so we come to know him, though Vogt doesn't name him."
RJ was unable to attend NSNC's annual conference—a perquisite of the first-place scholar with complementary registration, hotel and travel—because he moved to Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), to work as a reporter at the Myanmar Times as a Princeton in Asia Fellow for the 2015-2016 year. Vogt's main prize from the NSNC Education Foundation was $1,000.
Mary Anne (Piene) Hitt (’97), along with her colleague, Bruce Niles, has been named to POLITICO 50 in 2015. POLITICO Magazine calls the list their “guide to the thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2015.” Hitt and Niles were included for their leadership of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Others on the list included Pope Francis, Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel laureate), Janet Yellen, Bernie Sanders, and Justice Anthony Kennedy. The honorees were recognized at a gala at the Kennedy Center
Profile link: politico.com/magazine/politico50/2015/mary-anne-hitt-bruce-nilles.
You can learn more about the Beyond Clean Coal campaign at content.sierraclub.org/coal/about-the-campaign
John Rader (’08) was appointed in April 2015 as Policy Analyst and Counsel on the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under Chairman Bob Corker (Republican, Tennessee). In this role, Rader’s portfolio includes the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere policy, as well as advising the Chairman on terrorism and human rights issues, ambassadorial appointments, and judicial confirmations.
Drew Holbomb (’03) and his wife Ellie received the Alumni Promise Award in fall 2015. Drew Holcomb is the lead singer in the band, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.
Kevin Burdette (’97) has been nominated for a 2015 ArtImpulse Theater Award for his performance as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Boston Lyric Opera.
Lisa Coffman (‘85) Garrison Keillor selected her poem “Everybody Made Soups” to read on The Writer’s Almanac on Monday, January 18, 2016.
The audio can be found at writersalmanac.org/episodes/20160118/.
The poem was published in Less Obvious Gods (Iris Press, 2013)
Clinton Elmore (’14) received the Master of Science degree in communications in May 2016. His master’s project, the documentary film, Reaching Recovery, was screened on WBIR on March 10, 2016.
The film can be viewed at landgrantfilms.org/reaching/.
Current Scholar Hannah Marley was one of the producers.