Six UNC Hussman students honored with Chancellor's Awards
Six UNC Hussman students were honored with the University’s 2020 Chancellor’s Awards. Given annually, the awards honor outstanding students and members of the community for achievement in academic endeavors and leadership through involvement in student life, governance and other areas.
This year’s Chancellor’s Award honorees from UNC Hussman are:
- Hayley Boland, Panhellenic Council Woman of the Year Award
- Peyton Furtado, Willie P. Mangum Medal in Oratory
- Charlie McGee and Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Abernethy Student Publication Prize
- Faith Anne Newsome, Donald T. Lysle Service Award
- Kayla Rutledge, Louis D. Rubin Jr. Prize for Creative Writing
Read below for more about each of these outstanding students.
Hayley Boland wins Chancellor’s Panhellenic Council Woman of the Year Award
Recent UNC Hussman graduate Hayley Boland was honored as the Panhellenic Council Woman of the Year Award.
Established by the Panhellenic Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council and the Greek Alliance Council, the award recognizes an undergraduate who has made the most significant contributions in the areas of leadership, scholarship, service to their individual chapters, Greek and university communities.
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In 2019, Boland, a Phi Mu alumna who graduated from UNC in December 2019, served as president of the Panhellenic Council, overseeing the governing body of Carolina's largest women's organization, the Panhellenic Association.
“In my role, I was able focus on creating important changes in the Greek community,” Boland said. “As the leader of the Panhellenic Executive Council, I worked to increase our organization's outreach on campus, created initiatives for collaboration and inclusiveness in the sorority recruitment process and beyond, helped organize numerous philanthropic events and worked to promote unity among all four Greek councils at Carolina.”
Boland specialized in the broadcast and electronic journalism track at Hussman.
Since graduating in December, Boland has been working as an evening anchor and producer for KUMV-TV in North Dakota.
“I took interest in news at an early age. Growing up, I remember always watching our local newscasts in the evening. As I grew older, I began to realize the power journalism has in our society,” Boland said. “People look to journalists to tell them what's going on in the world, and that's not a responsibility to take lightly.”
Boland shoulders that responsibility with the lessons she learned at Hussman.
“While my time in school definitely went by way too fast, all of my experiences have prepared me well for my first job and life in general,” Boland said. “All of my professors with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media always pushed me to be my best, and I really appreciate the time they invested in me.”
Peyton Furtado wins Chancellor’s Willie P. Mangum Medal in Oratory
UNC Hussman senior Peyton Furtado was recognized with the Willie P. Mangum Medal in Oratory.
An oratory award, the Mangum Medal is the oldest student award at UNC. The award was established in 1877 in memory of Willie Person Mangum, an 1815 UNC graduate. Mangum had a long career in politics, including three terms in the U.S. Senate.
The award is administered by UNC’s Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies and is awarded to the member of the senior class who, in the opinion of a group of judges, gives the best oration at an annual contest.
For her oration, Furtado — who is on the broadcast journalism track — gave a speech about what her UNC education has meant to her, specifically her studies within the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
“I shared what education meant to me on a personal level. Choosing to stay informed is important. It’s what the news industry is here for,” Furtado said.
After graduation, the Wilmington, North Carolina, native hopes to land a reporting job with a television news station. “I want to be a reliable source of information for my community,” she said. “I grew up with such admiration for my hometown’s local news.”
For Furtado, her time at UNC has been pivotal — representing not only a milestone In her own life, but in the history of her family as well.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without UNC,” Furtado said. “I’m a first-generation college student from a high school with less than 200 people. UNC has grown me as a person and has afforded me experiences I would’ve never dreamed of!”
McGee and Quiroz-Gutierrez honored with Abernethy Student Publication Prize
UNC Hussman seniors Charlie McGee and Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez received of the Chancellor’s Abernethy Student Publication Prize.
Established by Ernest H. Abernethy ’22 in 1941, the annual award honors the most distinctive undergraduate work in student publications.
McGee, The Daily Tar Heel’s investigations team editor, was nominated by UNC Hussman faculty member John Robinson. Quiroz-Gutierrez, co-editor-in-chief of the DTH, was nominated by Hussman Associate Professor Andy Bechtel.
Charlie McGee
“It’s uniquely humbling to have my tenure at UNC topped off with recognition like this,” said McGee, who was recognized for his investigative work surrounding the Silent Sam Confederate monument.
Documenting such a historic event represented a key component of what drew McGee to studying journalism. “Journalism is a really interesting way to show current events with historical connections,” he said.
Robinson pointed to McGee’s precision as a journalist in describing why he nominated him for the award. “He does it right. He attempts to tell readers information they don't know. He shines light into dark spaces. He is intrepid in his reporting and journey to get the facts out,” Robinson said.
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
“Marco is a versatile editor and reporter with a wide range of skills,” said Bechtel in his nomination. “He also has strong news judgment.”
Quiroz-Gutierrez credits those strong skills to experiences at both UNC Hussman and The Daily Tar Heel. “The classroom gave me the foundational skills. The DTH has enabled me to use what I’ve learned in the journalism school and apply it to real-life reporting issues,” he said.
Quiroz-Gutierrez cites some of his proudest moments as stories where he was able to use his Spanish skills to report on the area’s Latino community.
Erica Perel, general manager of The Daily Tar Heel, appreciates the award’s acknowledgment of the value of student publications, not only to the institutions they serve, but to the students who work at them.
Besides allowing students to exercise their craft in a real-world scenario, student publications also teach students the important skills of decision making, responsibility and collaboration.
“Those factors combine to make student publications vital to our campus but also incredibly challenging for a group of 18-22 students to do well,” Perel said. “That's why it's heartening and meaningful to recognize those who do distinctive work in student publications.”
Faith Anne Newsome wins Chancellor’s Donald T. Lysle Service Award
UNC Hussman senior Faith Anne Newsome won the Donald T. Lysle Service Award. The award recognizes a student involved in service during their time at UNC.
Meaningful service packed the UNC tenure of Newsome, a Sanford, N.C., native who has served as a Buckley Public Service Scholar as well as president of the Mental Health Ambassadors during her time as a student.
Also, during the summer before her junior year, Newsome began an organization called OCEANS (which stands for outreach, community engagement, advocacy and nondiscriminatory support.) The nonprofit group supports and advocates for adolescents living with obesity and offers programming for teens, as well as fundraising for obesity research.
The group is a personal passion for Newsome, who struggled herself with obesity as an adolescent and underwent weight loss surgery at the age of 16. After graduation from UNC, Newsome will continue her focus on the subject. Her ultimate goal is to pursue a doctorate in medical sciences with a concentration in health outcomes and implementation sciences at the University of Florida and hopes to work in obesity research.
Where does a degree from Hussman fit into that path? For Newsome, good research means good communication, and she wanted an undergraduate degree that would ensure she could communicate stories that emerged from her research in an engaging way. She concentrated in the reporting track at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
Her award — and the work it recognizes — represent another part of the path, and a full circle moment for Newsome, a reminder of her decision to attend UNC in the first place.
“This award means so much to me. When I was deciding which college to attend, I chose to go to UNC because I felt that UNC would be giving me the tools and the education I needed to go out and make changes that I wanted to see in the world,” Newsome said.
Her time at UNC has flown by too quickly, Newsome said, filled with professors who were invested and knowledgeable and good friends who made the campus feel like home.
“I succeeded, I failed, but most of all, during my time at UNC, I have learned. I am so appreciative of every experience I've had. I grew so much during my time at UNC, and Chapel Hill will always have a special place in my heart,” Newsome said.
Kayla Rutledge wins the Louis D. Rubin Jr. Prize for Creative Writing.
UNC Hussman senior Kayla Rutledge won the Chancellor’s Louis D. Rubin Jr. Prize for Creative Writing. The award is a merit-based award given to a senior in Creative Writing, where Rutledge is minoring.
The Charlotte native plans to attend NC State University after graduation, where she has accepted a spot in the prestigious Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.
“I’ll get to be part of a fiction cohort, teach first-year creative writing, and work with some really incredible faculty. I’m so excited and grateful for the opportunity to get to learn more about writing,” Rutledge said.
So, how did a creative writing aficionado end up studying journalism? For Rutledge, the jump was easy.
“I’ve always loved to read, and I think stories are so powerful. When I started college, I knew I wanted to combine that love for English with something that would positively impact the world, and I think I saw within the study of advertising and public relations the opportunity to tell important and truthful stories,” said Rutledge, who studied strategic communication at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
Rutledge was nominated for the award by her thesis adviser — J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor Daniel Wallace, director of creative writing in the department of English and Comparative Literature. Her thesis was a portfolio of short stories dealing with communication.
“I write about characters who want to connect with and be in relationship to others, even when those relationships are difficult,” Rutledge said.
Rutledge added: “I’m not as interested in the harm we intend to do as I am in the question that Styron’s character asks in “Lie Down in Darkness” — “What have we done with our lives so that everywhere we turn — no matter how hard we try not to — we cause other people sorrow?”
Winning the award culminates an exciting four years at UNC, which Rutledge calls formative.
“Obviously, it feels really good to be recognized for your creative work, and I’m very grateful. I feel like I owe a lot of it to the other people in my thesis class. They are a truly wonderful group of human beings,” Rutledge said.
And Rutledge leaves UNC with memories that will last a lifetime.
“Even as a writer, it’s really hard to put into words what UNC has meant to me. I’ve met some of my best friends and made really happy memories,” Rutledge said. “It’s been a whirlwind of four years, but at its core, UNC has provided people who have made a huge impact on my life and helped me grow both emotionally and spiritually.”