Published on February 5, 2025 by Gunnar Sadowey  
SEJC2025

Samford University’s communication and media students, along with staffers from The Samford Crimson, received several awards from the Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC), held last weekend at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi.

Samford students earned recognition across multiple categories in the conference’s “Best of the South” competition:

  • First Place, Best Magazine Writer: Rebekah Crozier
  • First Place, Magazine Designer: Grace Watters
  • Second Place, Best Infographic: Ashley Jones & Faith Holley
  • Third Place, Best Advertising Staffer: Lola Casey
  • Third Place, Best Opinion-Editorial Writer: Andrew White
  • Fifth Place, Best Newspaper Designer: Andrew White

The annual SEJC conference gathers student journalists from across the South to engage in professional development and compete in media contests. This year’s programming featured sessions on artificial intelligence, sports coverage and investigative reporting.

Presenters included Ross Dellenger, a national college football writer; Elizabeth Crisp, a politics and newsletter writer at The Hill; University of Mississippi journalism professor Kathleen Wickham; and Isabelle Taft, a national desk reporting fellow at The New York Times.

Will Heath, Samford’s media and professional development adviser, praised the students’ dedication and performance.

“Our Samford group at SEJC this year was small but mighty,” Heath said. “Student journalists spent the weekend soaking up information on artificial intelligence, sports coverage and digging for information. They also threw themselves into on-site competitions for feature writing and arts and entertainment multimedia. They were, as always, a credit to the department’s faculty, as well as Samford.”

The SEJC attracts competing institutions from across the region, including the Universities of Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi, as well as peer institutions like Belmont and Union Universities.

Samford continues to demonstrate excellence in journalism and media, earning a respected reputation among collegiate journalism programs throughout the South.

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Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.