OXFORD, Miss. – Marianna Breland of Forest has earned dozens of awards and honors during her four years at the University of Mississippi, but her recent national Hearst Award may top them all.
On the heels of being among 10 seniors inducted this spring into the 2012 Ole Miss Hall of Fame – the university’s highest overall honor – Breland has won fifth place in the 2012 Hearst Enterprise Reporting Competition. The annual event is part of the 52nd annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
Ninety-three students from 53 universities participated in the program’s second writing competition of the academic year. Breland received a $1,000 scholarship, with a matching grant going to the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Of the five scholarship winners, she is the only one from Mississippi and from the SEC. The third-place winner is from the University of Missouri, which joins Ole Miss in the SEC this summer.
Marianna Breland. UM photo by Kevin Bain
Breland’s winning entry originated last spring semester when the Meek School’s students enrolled in the Delta Project, a Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College journalism class, spent their spring break reporting in Greenville. They generated two dozen in-depth essays, which were made available to Mississippi Press Association member newspapers and published in the fall in a magazine format titled “Whatever Happened to Main Street.”
Breland’s article appeared in Greenville’s Delta Democrat Times newspaper on Oct 10, 2011. Her assignment was to cover the rise and fall of the towboat industry in the Mississippi River town.
“When I started out with the Delta Project with Bill Rose and Cutis Wilkie, I just knew I was going to get a story that would change lives; I couldn’t wait to tackle a story on a subject that would really get people going,” Breland said. “So, it was to my extreme surprise and disappointment that I was, in fact, going to be reporting about towboats.
“But it took just a little research to show me that it was not just a story about boats in the river, but actually a call to attention to a mode of transportation that died and was being resurrected, a way of life for many. I worked very hard on it and really grew to love many of the people I interviewed. The story got personal for me, and I really wanted to help them.”
Breland’s diligence did not surprise her professors.
“Marianna is not only a good writer and reporter, she is also one of those remarkable students who gives everything she has to a course,” said Bill Rose, adjunct instructor, who entered his students’ essays in the Hearst competition. “The three things that impressed me most about her were her enthusiasm, her eagerness to get better and the pleasing natural rhythm of her writing style.
“She also brought a great attitude – always enthusiastic and positive – to the class.”
Curtis Wilkie, Cook Chair and associate professor of journalism, agreed.
“It’s a joy to deal with students like Marianna,” Wilkie said. “She’s the kind of student that makes a teacher feel good, just an outstanding young woman.”
Praising her Ole Miss professors for her successes, Breland said, “My education in this university has surpassed all of my expectations. I know when I leave in May that I not only will have learned the best information in my field but also learned from the best.
“The greatest value is how I have been able to learn from a hands-on perspective. I did not just simply read and write here. I have learned to milk a cow in my food policy class, traveled to Germany for public policy, and written and later published for journalism. I value that I am not walking away with just an education, but an education with many, many experiences attached.”
About the Delta Project, Breland said, “I definitely learned to never judge an assignment until the end. Now, a year later, I have a Hearst Award and a thesis topic.”
A member of the Honors College and Trent Lott Leadership Institute, Breland is majoring in public policy leadership. She must write a thesis to meet her academic requirements for spring graduation.
She is a Mississippi Young Bankers Scholar, Comcast Scholar and Education Services Foundation Scholar. She holds the Martha Dale Fritts Ole Miss Women’s Council Scholarship and an Academic Excellence Scholarship.
Her other awards and honors include membership in Phi Kappa Phi, UM’s highest academic honor society recognizing scholarship in all disciplines; Mortar Board honor society, recognizing outstanding scholarship, leadership and service; and Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honorary.
To learn more, visit the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.