OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi alumna Christine Williamson has spent countless hours with children of the Children’s Miracle Network. Christine’s passion for helping others is a big part of why she won Miss Tennessee, said her sister, Christal Williamson.

“She really cares about the children there,” said Christal, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Tennessee.

She touched the heart and changed the life of one child so much that when the child passed away, the parents asked Christine to sing at the funeral.

“It was really hard for her to keep it together,” Christal said.

Christine Williamson, 22, grew up in Memphis. After high school, she attended UM as a broadcast journalism major. While at Ole Miss, she was a news anchor for NewsWatch and a member of Phi Mu sorority.

After graduating in 2017, she enrolled at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to pursue a master’s degree in business with a certification in data analytics, which she has put on hiatus for now.

She began competing for Miss Tennessee just five years ago. The first year, she was Miss Memphis and didn’t make the top 15. Then she was named Miss Smoky Mountains the next year and jumped all the way to earning second runner-up.

Her third year, she fell back slightly as Miss Mountain Empire by getting third runner-up. Last year, she was able to get first runner-up as Miss Scenic City. Finally, she won the title this year as Miss Chattanooga.

“It was five years of determination and hard work,” Christine said. “Lots of hurt and disappointment, but there were a lot of reflection and understanding that it’s not about instant gratification. It’s about what you learn on the way to achieving your goal.”

As Miss Chattanooga, Christine served as a Tennessee congressional advocate and national ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Association, raising more than $25,000 for the association. She is also a Tennessee State Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Her experiences at Ole Miss have stayed with her along the way, giving her skills that helped her become Miss Tennessee.

“I’m glad that my undergraduate degree at Ole Miss gave me the on-camera skills for my job as Miss Tennessee,” Christine said. “Going forward, I know how to use those media skills and know how to best promote the issues that I care about.”

Additionally, the close friends she made during her time at UM continue to provide encouragement and support.

“I was really shocked at when I worked at NewsWatch at how much it became like an entire second family and how supportive they’ve been through all of it,” she said.

Her Phi Mu sisters have provided an enormous extended family as well.

Most of all, Christine said, her family has supported her on this journey, and they were able to celebrate when she finally won the Miss Tennessee crown.

“My mom has been my biggest cheerleader and friend through the process, and Christal, my little sister, definitely has been, too,” she said. “My sister was squalling her eyes out … so it showed me how much it meant to her.”

“I was really excited, but mostly excited for her to see her fulfill this goal,” said her mom, Carol.

“I love cheering her on,” Christal said.

Her family continues to provide love, support and encouragement as she prepares for the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They understand all the hard work and effort she has put into the contest, such as going to the gym, practicing speeches and more, because they competed in a few pageants as well.

Christal won Miss Banana Pudding Outstanding Teen in Dickson, Tennessee, Miss Collierville Outstanding Teen and Miss Delta Fair. One year, their mom even competed for Miss Tennessee.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much work it is,” Christal said. “They think you just put on a pretty dress. It’s a lot of work behind the scenes.

I think she has a great shot. She has so much experience over the last five years. I think she’d be phenomenal for the job.”

“We believe she has a really good chance at reaching that goal as well,” her mom said.

Christine said if she was to be named Miss America, her focus would remain on a few key topics: to spread awareness of Alzheimer’s and the Children’s Miracle Network, in addition to character education.

The children and their families at the CMN hospitals have shaped her life, she said.

“I want to really focus on them and give them my everything,” she said. “They’re so strong, brave and courageous, and the families have really changed my life. I’m really excited to spend more time with them hands-on.”

The Miss America pageant is set for Sept. 5-9 in Atlantic City. The final night of the competition will be televised at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Besides Williamson, Asya Branch, a rising junior majoring in integrated marketing communications at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at UM, was crowned Miss Mississippi and also will compete for the Miss America title.

OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi rising senior has been recognized for her commitment to journalism with a $10,000 scholarship.

Brittany Brown, a journalism major from Quitman, is the recipient of the Ed Bradley Scholarship from the Radio Television Digital News Foundation.

The award, named in honor of the late CBS News’ “60 Minutes” correspondent, is presented to an outstanding student of color. The foundation’s recipients represent the best and brightest in all areas of journalism and have demonstrated a commitment to informing the community.

“To be the recipient of RTDNF’s Ed Bradley Scholarship is an honor, not only because this lifts an extreme financial weight from my family’s shoulders, but also because Ed Bradley paved the way for journalists of color,” Brown said. “This generous scholarship allows me to complete my senior year at Ole Miss without any financial responsibility on my family and could possibly help offset some of the costs of graduate school.

“I am just happy to see my dedication to journalism paying off, and I am proud to represent the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.”

Brown is heavily involved in student media at Ole Miss, where she serves as assistant news editor for The Daily Mississippian and worked as a digital content producer for the student-led “NewsWatch Ole Miss” broadcast.

She will also be recognized at the Excellence in Journalism conference this fall in Baltimore. She was among 12 journalists awarded more than $31,000 in scholarships this year.

“Brittany Brown is an exceptional student in that she is right at home producing and analyzing traditional academic research and also a whiz at learning the latest media technologies, plus she’s able to put all those skills and attributes into practice as a journalist,” said Deb Wenger, assistant dean at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

“This is a young woman who is reliable, hard-working, takes critique well and who is always striving to be better. She’s also delightful to be around, and I don’t think I overstate things when I say she’s on her way to becoming the type of journalist our country and our world needs.”

The foundation has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships since 1970 to promote education. Recipients of these awards have pursued careers in journalism as reporters, anchors, news directors and White House speechwriters, among others.

Brown’s passion is investigative journalism. She is participating in the prestigious Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship program this summer at Arizona State University, which focuses on investigative reporting.

Brown is working alongside 37 other journalists across the U.S., Ireland and Canada to produce in-depth, national coverage of hate in America. Under the leadership of Len Downie, former executive editor of The Washington Post, and award-winning investigative journalist Jaquee Petchel, Brown is traveling around the country to report on hate groups and hate crimes in America.

“This program is providing the first opportunity to do investigative reporting, and this topic is very timely, especially in America today,” Brown said. “I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity to work with such talented journalists and editors, and I am getting the opportunity to travel to and report in 14 states this summer.”

She said the fellowship has been challenging, but rewarding.

“I believe this program is setting me on the right path for my career, and I am glad to be learning the skills of investigative journalism while still in my undergraduate years,” she said.

The final project from the fellowship will be completed in August, but ongoing news stories are published on https://hateinamerica.news21.com/blog/.

Brown plans to pursue a graduate degree to further her knowledge of the field and ultimately pursue a career in investigative journalism.

OXFORD, Miss. – MPA – The Association of Magazine Media has awarded a $25,000 endowment to the University of Mississippi’s Magazine Innovation Center to launch a fund that will support the next phase of magazine education through the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

The award is earmarked to assist with the cost of educational internship expenses and travel, up to $1,500 per student. It is to be awarded to as many as four students each summer.

“The beauty of the deal between MPA and the Magazine Innovation Center is that it helps remove one major stumbling block from the pursuit of a career in magazines,” said Samir Husni, journalism professor and Magazine Innovation Center director. “Every semester, we have eager and talented students who want to enter the magazine media field, and are offered wonderful internship opportunities, but can’t afford the cost of travel or stay in the major cities to get started.”

This year’s inaugural recipients are Brittany Abbott, a senior majoring in journalism and English from Holly Springs; Daniel Dubuisson, senior journalism major from Pass Christian; Hannah Hurdle, senior journalism major from Oxford; and Kiara Manning, senior journalism major from Jackson. The award made it possible for the four to participate in the Magazine Media Making May intersession course, a two-week class, last month in New York.

MPA is a trade group with more than 150 members in the magazine media industry. The organization serves as an advocate and voice for magazine brands by promoting leadership and strategies while amplifying the research supporting the effectiveness and credibility of magazines.

Through its work, MPA attracts students to careers in magazine media. Many students are interested in pursuing internships, but sometimes the cost of travel and extended stay in places such as Manhattan can be a deterrent.

Even a little bit of money can go a long way for students, said Linda Thomas Brooks, president and CEO of the trade group.

“Internships are vital for the career-starting process, but the expenses associated with the experience can make them prohibitive,” Thomas Brooks said. “There are tons of smart, young students who dream of working in magazine media, and MPA wanted to give some of them a path to make that happen.”

The group’s members felt enough of a need for an internship assistance program at the Magazine Innovation Center that they worked with Husni to make their donation an endowment that can support many semesters of students. The award helps fulfill MPA’s desire to recruit students to the magazine media industry while directly supporting the university’s strategic goals to enhance student success.

Individuals or organizations interested in the Internship Assistance Program can contribute to the endowment to benefit future students by contacting Husni at hsamir@olemiss.edu.

About Magazine Innovation Center

The Magazine Innovation Center, founded in 2009 at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi, is an international collaboration linking the best thinkers in publishing, marketing, printing, advertising and distribution. It seeks to generate focused innovation in magazines and other print media. The magazine and magazine media industry employ the world’s great minds. The center will channel their creativity and intellect (away from the grinds of everyday work and challenges) to provide blueprints for productive change.

About MPA
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media is the primary advocate and voice for the magazine media industry, driving thought leadership and game‐changing strategies to promote the industry’s vitality and increase its revenues and market share. Established in 1919, MPA represents more than 150 domestic, associate and international members. MPA is headquartered in New York City, with a government affairs office in Washington, D.C.

OXFORD, Miss. – An instructor in the University of Mississippi Meek School of Journalism and New Media and her 30-student team have won a Silver Anvil, the most prestigious U.S. award in public relations, for “It Starts with (Me)ek,“ a public relations campaign they created asking students to “just pause” before stereotyping others.

The award, given by the Public Relations Society of America, is considered to be the “Oscar” of the public relations industry.

Actress and “CBS Sunday Morning” show contributor Nancy Giles, perhaps best known for her role on the TV show “China Beach,” served as emcee for the event in New York and presented the award to senior lecturer Robin Street, campaign chair.

Three of the 30 students who served on the It Starts with (Me)ek committee joined Street at the ceremony. The journalism school graduates attending the event in New York were Brittanee Wallace, an integrated marketing communications major from Gulfport, Bianca Abney, an integrated marketing communications major from Moss Point, and Grace Miller, a broadcast journalism major with a specialization in public relations from Gainesville, Georgia.

The weeklong “It Starts with (Me)ek” campaign consisted of 50 events, speakers and activities, all based on the message to “just pause” before judging people based solely on one factor, such as their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness or other factor.

While those judging the entries in this category remained anonymous, one of the judges said the “It Starts with (Me)ek” campaign was a “very brilliantly executed and impactful campaign. Well done!”

Street said winning the Silver Anvil and attending the ceremony with three of the students who worked on the campaign was “so exciting.”

“We were surrounded there by some of the biggest names in public relations and corporations in the country,” Street said. “The fact that a student team won competing with those professionals is truly a testament to the education our students received from all their Meek School instructors.

“It is also especially meaningful because it was for a public relations campaign with a very simple message: Just pause before stereotyping others based only on their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or other factor.

“We hoped that the campaign would encourage our students to treat others with understanding, dignity, respect and inclusion, and based on our follow-up surveys and focus groups, we believe we succeeded.”

Like the Oscars, Silver Anvils are given in multiple categories. “It Starts with (Me)ek” won in the internal communications category for government or nonprofit organizations. Only one Silver Anvil is awarded in each category, while other entries may be given an Award of Excellence.

The campaign previously won awards from both the Public Relations Association of Mississippi and the Southern Public Relations Federation.

A previous campaign Street did with 15 Ole Miss students won a Silver Anvil Award of Excellence in 2009.

OXFORD, Miss. – Patricia Thompson, assistant dean at the University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media, has been named the new executive director of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

As a result, the council’s headquarters will move to UM, where Thompson will assume her new role July 1, as well as continue her role as assistant dean for student media and assistant professor of journalism. She will hire staff to assist with ACEJMC and student media duties.

“This is the perfect next step in my path as a journalist and professor passionate about journalism since I was 11 years old,” Thompson said.

Thompson has been involved in journalism accreditation for more than 20 years as both a journalist and journalism educator. She has served two terms on the ACEJMC national committee and as a member and chair of the organization’s appeals board.

Thompson will succeed Susanne Shaw, professor of journalism at the University of Kansas and executive director of ACEJMC for more than 30 years.

The ACEJMC evaluates professional journalism and communications programs at colleges and universities in the United States and several other countries. Accredited programs total 118 in the U.S., Mexico, Chile, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and New Zealand. In her role as executive director, Thompson will report to the accrediting council and work closely with officers of the council and the accrediting committee.

“ACEJMC is very fortunate to attract a journalist and journalism educator of Pat’s caliber to serve as our executive director,” said Peter Bhatia, editor of the Detroit Free Press and ACEJMC president. “She will build on the incredible accomplishments of Susanne Shaw and lead us forward in working to help journalism education remain essential and up-to-date.”

Thompson joined the Meek School faculty in 2009. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist who worked as a writer and editor at newspapers such as The Washington Post and The San Jose Mercury News. She also was an assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

She oversees UM’s Student Media Center and serves as the faculty adviser for The Daily Mississippian and theDMonline.com. Her work with students on projects has resulted in state, regional and national journalism awards.

“The naming of Pat Thompson as executive director of ACEJMC demonstrates the respect faculty in the Meek School have earned,” said Will Norton Jr., dean of the school. “Pat is a highly regarded journalist and educator who has raised the profile of the Meek School.”

Thompson said she is excited about her new role.

“I came to the University of Mississippi to run student media because it was the opportunity to blend two things I care deeply about: quality journalism and the education of young journalists,” Thompson said. “Susanne has been an outstanding, inspirational executive director for ACEJMC, as she has upheld standards for media programs. It won’t be easy to follow in her footsteps. I look forward to learning from her and working with the council as we help shape the future of journalism and communications education during a time of great change.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. – R.J. Morgan, director of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association at the University of Mississippi, is the recipient of the Southern Interscholastic Press Association’s Elizabeth B. Dickey Distinguished Service Award.

Morgan, who is also an instructional assistant professor of journalism in UM’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media, said he is honored to receive this recognition for doing a job he finds challenging but enormously rewarding.

“I am so grateful to be recognized by SIPA (based at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications) and the rest of my scholastic journalism family,” Morgan said. “Education is a calling, and the task of training a new generation of media-literate, free-speech-loving citizens is not easy work. Nevertheless, I’m proud to serve in this field and to work with so many great institutions.”

Will Norton Jr., dean of the Meek School, applauded Morgan for being an “uncommon faculty member.”

“He is very bright, has a relentless work ethic and is strategic in his thinking,” Norton said. “We are so grateful he is on our faculty.”

The award was presented during the annual advisers’ luncheon held at the recent SIPA convention. Morgan earned praise from his peers and the advisers with whom he regularly works.

“He is an encourager of others, loves students and works well with both students and adults,” said Beth Fitts, former MSPA director. “At the same time, he is a self-starter who gets things done – all with great flair and an engaging sense of humor.”

Morgan, a native of Pearl, Mississippi, received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Mississippi State University. He lived and taught in Starkville for 11 years before moving to Oxford and joining UM.

He was recognized with the award for providing students with the education and opportunities they need to develop as journalists. But, according to his many supporters, what really sets him apart is his availability and dedication to the students. Whether answering texts or emails, or renting buses to ensure students have the opportunity to make it to the SIPA conventions, he is always available to help.

“He frequently goes above and beyond his normal director duties,” said Diala Chaney, Oxford High School journalism adviser. “He stays in constant communication with the journalism teachers throughout the state. He makes all the arrangements, travel plans and only collects a portion of the cost from the students who are interested in attending [the conventions].”

Morgan leads students and advisers to participate at the state, regional and national levels, said Mandy Mahan, D’Iberville High School yearbook adviser.

“Because of the opportunities that R.J. creates through MSPA, my students have built impressive resumes filled with speaking engagements and awards,” Mahan said. “He truly believes that scholastic journalism should be student-led, so my students have presented at our state conferences and have had the opportunity to submit work and win awards in the numerous competitions that he readily advertises.

“He encourages them to think outside of the box and makes himself available whenever they need him. My broadcast group has even asked him to come down here to be a featured guest on their weekly podcast.”

Morgan is especially deserving of the Distinguished Service Award, said Charles Mitchell, associate dean and associate professor of journalism at the Meek School.

“I was happy to see R.J. earn this award, and I mean earn,” Mitchell said. “He works with true dedication to support high schools and students in and near Mississippi with all their student media efforts.

“He’s both an effective cheerleader and a skilled resource. The Meek School is fortunate to have him teach here, and I am fortunate to have such a strong colleague.”

The recipient of the Distinguished Service Award usually has at least seven years of experience advising one or more award-winning school publication. The honoree also influences scholastic journalism beyond the walls of the school in state, regional and national scholastic press associations and shows leadership at SIPA conventions.

The Southern Interscholastic Press Association is a not-for-profit organization of public schools, including middle, junior and senior high schools, and independent schools. Its purpose is to encourage a high degree of professionalism in scholastic journalism and mass communications in the Southeast. Founded at Washington and Lee University in 1926, SIPA moved to the University of South Carolina in 1972.

 

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi alumna Amy Lyles Wilson is working to raise $100,000 to rename the Magazine Innovation Center at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media for the center’s longtime director and journalism professor Samir Husni.

A former student of Husni’s, Wilson wants to rename the foundation of the university’s magazine program to the Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni Magazine Innovation Center in honor of the professor’s years of service and dedication to his students.

Wilson’s family donated an initial $55,000 gift to support the effort, and she’s inviting others to contribute through the Ignite Ole Miss crowdfunding platform to reach a $100,000 goal. Just over $76,000 has been contributed thus far, and Wilson is hoping more of Husni’s friends, colleagues, and current and former students will pay tribute to his legacy on campus.

Wilson earned an M.A. in journalism in 1986 after enrolling in the program following a discouraging semester in another field.

“I dragged myself across the parking lot to Farley Hall and, thankfully, Will Norton took pity on me and the department granted me provisional admission, as I needed to take the GRE,” she said. “He told me to check out a class with ‘the new guy,’ who turned out to be Samir Husni. At that point, everything shifted.” 

Husni joined the UM journalism faculty in 1984 and has become known as the world’s leading magazine expert. Besides teaching, he continues to be a practitioner in the magazine industry by offering consultation and insight to new magazines.

In 2009, he created the Magazine Innovation Center to link the greatest minds in the industry with future industry leaders: Ole Miss students.

“I am humbled and honored,” Husni said. “I am thankful to Amy Lyles Wilson for starting this, and I’m proud to be serving Ole Miss magazine students since 1984.”

Since Wilson’s time in his classroom, she and Husni have become friends and peers, working together to publish his “Launch Your Own Magazine” book and supporting young people who dream of careers in magazine journalism.

“The magazine program has come a long way since a handful of us gathered in Samir’s classroom for his inaugural semester back in 1984, unsure of who he was or just what he was offering,” she said. “Even then, though, before he became world-renowned and tagged as ‘Mr. Magazine,’ it was obvious that Samir had an abiding interest in his students.”

Husni set the foundation for Wilson’s career, she said. Since earning her degree from Ole Miss, she has written for magazines, published books and developed communications materials for nonprofits. Wilson has co-authored or contributed to eight books, and her work has appeared in a variety of publications as well as on National Public Radio.

Wilson earned a master’s degree in theology from Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School and works as a story coach and spiritual director in Nashville, Tennessee. She teaches throughout the South and at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, and has served as adjunct professor and writer-in-residence at the Earlham School of Religion in Indiana.

“I couldn’t have crafted a better life for myself,” she said. “And I couldn’t have done it as readily without Samir and the journalism folks opening up such a versatile world to me. And I know they’ve done it for many others as well.”

Wilson said she believes society will always need talented, skilled communicators, whether online or off, in print or digital, and she wants to help Husni prepare them for years to come with this endowment.

Individuals and organizations can contribute to the fund at https://ignite.olemiss.edu/samir. Checks can be mailed to the University of Mississippi Foundation, with the name of the fund noted in the check’s memo line, at 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655.

For more information, contact Jason McCormick, development director for the journalism school, at jason@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1757.