Honoring the many successes of Hubbard School undergraduate and graduate students in the 2025-26 academic year.
Congrats to the Class of 2026!
Congrats to all of our graduating seniors, including Undergraduate Commencement Speaker Wilma Agustianto!
Photos by Regina McCombs.
Spring Showcase & Student Recognition Breakfast
On May 15, 2026, the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication hosted a Spring Showcase and Student Recogntion Breakfast at McNamara Alumni Center to celebrate the graduate class of 2026 and to honor all of the student awards and accolades accrued during the 2025-26 academic year. Featured speakers included Director Elisia Cohen, Associate Director María Len-Ríos, keynote speaker and AP video journalist Mark Vancleave, retired journalist Tom Gjelten and students Dane Bergstrom and Jo Larson.
Photos by Patrick O'Leary.
2025-2026 Scholarship Recipients
Carol Ladwig Endowed Scholarship Fund:
Sofia Cavalcanti
Melissa Leon
Curtis Erickson Scholarship
Saniah Bates
Isabelle Curry
Findlay Drabant
Ava Hartwell
David Floren Scholarship
Sally Adams
Elsie Dempsey-Rice
Madysen Galiher
Gabriela Kotovsky
Greta Schmidt
Sydney Stonehouse
Noi Vongsaly
Zoe Anderson
F. Gerald Kline Memorial Scholarship
Amy Le
Abigail Pearson
Gertrude Berndt Scholarship
Maya Engeholm
Vanessa Garske
Jasmine Gutz
Sophie Houdek
Lydia Nelson
Minhigh Nguyen
Allaina Robaidek
Catherine Schweitzer
Zainab Abbas
Esme Siegel
Destanee Ulrich
Harold Roitenberg Scholarship in Journalism
Raeanne Gayan
Melina Tapia
Will Farmer
Serge Logan Scholarship
Macy Alcon
Anna Asmus
Dane Bergstrom
Will Busse
Arielle Davis
Bryn Donovan
Allison Johnson
Anna Park
Alannah Shanley
Isabella Lepak
Emma Provost
Riley Rasmussen
Paige Reis
Abbey Roufs
Brendan Ryan
Natalie Shepherd
Li Yan Tan
Hattie Tschida
Abigal Larson
Herbert Berridge Elliston Scholarship
Nissa Ali
Chloe Coombs
Maximus Jennings
Abby Meinert
Ashley Steinke
Davin Nordin
John Finnegan Scholarship
Ahmed Hassan
Alexis Letang
Steve Kopperud Scholarship
Cherie Elsner
Li Yan Tan
Emma Walytka
Alannah Shanley
Isabel Margerie
Individual Scholarship Recipients
Cecilia Heinen
Albert R. Tims Undergraduate Scholarship
Jasmine Shackleford
Alumni Association Endowment
Diane Mogrovejo
Barbara Beerhalter Scholarship in Strategic Communication
Amy Luong
Barden Award Endowment
Saniah Bates
Ben Fouquette Memorial Scholarship
Ahmed Hassan
Bette Jones Hammel Scholarship Endowment
Sofia Esparza
Beverly Kees Scholarship
Sydney Stone
Haoxu Wang
Thomas Bartikowski Memorial Scholarship
Amy Luong
Brad Johnson Memorial Scholarship
Avery Vrieza
Brian E. Anderson Scholarship
Anna Adamson
Joseph and Jacqueline Kindwater Scholarship Fund
Samantha Siedow
Wren Warne-Jacobson
Caroll Binder Memorial Award
Casey Marble
Clayton Kaufman Fund
Dilan Parekh
Claudia Staut
David Shippee Memorial Fund
Zachary Lebowitz
David Silverman Scholarship
Mady Leick
Deborah Hudson and Rick Pallansch Award for Emerging Investigative Journalists
Khalid Mohamed
Otto Quale Memorial Scholarship Fund
Emma Walytka
Don R. and Carole J. Larson Scholarship in School of Journalism and Mass Comm
Bianca Caputo
Ferne M. Noreen Scholarship
Louisa Jaeckel
Hattie Steinberg Scholarship
Elaera Knutson
Helen Beggs Scholarship
Ana Kyle
Keith H. Anderson Scholarship in Journalism and Mass Communications
Sricharan Kotala
Howard and Roberta Liszt Award Fund
Ava Hartwell
Hubbard Radio Undergraduate Scholarship
Sofia Esparza
Dave Moore Award
Paige Kent
Jack W. Peters Scholarship
Will Farmer
Jim and Jen Schweigert Endowed Scholarship
Eitan Schoenberg
Jim Klobuchar Scholarship
Ilke Gunay
Archie Salyards Memorial Scholarship
Isabelle Curry
Joe Kane Memorial Scholarship
Megan Davis
Jon Bream Scholarship for Arts Criticism
Morgan Heilman
Charles Sweningsen Scholarship
Julia Miller
Judy Conrad and Jim Stai Study Abroad Scholarship
Mady Leick
Kaufman/Skyway News Scholarship
Ahmed Hassan, Alexis Letang
John Finnegan Scholarship
Katrina Bailey
Lee Ann Norman Memorial Scholarship
Katrina Bailey
Kristen Smith Wenker Journalism Scholarship
Nicholas Johnson
Leon C. Carr and Donnie Cronin Carr Memorial Scholarship
Alexandra DeYoe
Mark Hopp Scholarship Endowment
Emma Walytka
Mary Jane Sokolowski-Gustafson Memorial Scholar
Alec Zadra
Neota Johnson Bradley Journalism Scholarship
Chloe Coombs
Patricia and William Greer Scholarship
Vivian Wilson
Mike Steele Arts Criticism Scholarship
Findlay Drabant
Phyllis Conrad Scholarship
Lexi Nelson
Fred and Lucille Kildow Award
Kendra Mobilia
Patrick Connolly Scholarship
Zachary Lebowitz
Peter and Elizabeth Edmonds Scholarship Endowment
Ilke Gunay
Press Women of Minnesota
Gabby Hanson
Rachel Chazin Memorial Scholarship
Vincent Kallstrom
Thomas F. Barnhart Memorial Scholarship
Jasmine Shackleford
Yuzer-Klatt Award for Conservation and Environmental Journalism & Strategic Communication
Laura Theis, Lucija Vaicius
Christine Fruechte Scholarship
Vincent Kallstrom
Anita Beck Memorial Scholarship
Louisa Jaeckel
William F. White Memorial Scholarship
Casey Marble
Elliot M. Baron Memorial Scholarship
Alec Zadra
High School Publications Scholarship
Lexi Nelson
Fred and Lucille Kildow Award
Student Accomplishments
Tom Gjelten Prize for Outstanding Student Journalism
Yvette Higgins
Tyler Church, Honorable Mention
Medalists at AdFed’s The Show
Gold Push Pin: Campaign for Hasbro
Art Director: Elsie Dempsey-Rice
Art Director: Kaia Ludtke
Copywriter: Wolfgang Kalz
Category: Student - Social Media, Single Execution
Silver Push Pin: Reflections by DePop
Creative: Renee DeMars Dehn
Category: Student - Outdoor & Transit Advertising Campaign
Silver Push Pin: Plan B
Art Director: Kathy Dinh
Creative: Devin Nordin
Category: Student - Integrated Consumer Campaign
Bronze Honorable Mention: Kraft Mac + Cheese
Art Director: Kaia Ludtke
Creative: Nathan Scharpe
Category: Student - Integrated Consumer Campaign
Bronze Honorable Mention: trü frü
Art Director/Copywriter: Renee DeMars Dehn
Creative: Elsa Bergland
Creative: Abby Garnes
Category: Student - Integrated Consumer Campaign
National Student Competition Awards
First Place: Regionals
Best Plans Book:
Erica Kyllonen
Best Presentation:
Shae Horning, Molly Morgan, Abbey Pearson, Charlie Maloney
Best Highlight Reel:
Gabe Vogel, Jessica Chung, Kate Henning, and Rachel Bergh
Northern Exposure Student Award Winners
Dilan Parekh
College News, First Place
Claudia Staut
College News, Second Place
College Sports Feature, First Place & Honorable Mention
Neil Roy
College News, Honorable Mention
Henry Creel
College Portrait, First Place
Elsie Dempsey-Rice
College Portrait, Honorable Mention
Public Relations Society of America Award Winners
Aleksa Atkinson
Minnesota PRSA President’s Award
Minnesota PRSA Classics Finalist for Case Studies
Emma Storstad
Minnesota PRSA Classics First Place Digital and Social Media
Katie Renier
PRSA Classics Finalist for Public Relations Writing
WEC Awards
WEC Journalism Feature Award Winners
Wren Warne-Jacobsen
First Place - Living in the 'Puzzle Game’
Isabelle Curry
Second Place (Tie) - Turning the Tables
Joseph Krattley
Second Place (Tie) - The Death of Political Cartoons
WEC Strat Comm Writing Award Winners
Abigail Pearson
First Place
Sophia Dickerman
Second Place
Cecilia Heinen
Third Place
Honors Students
Wilma Agustianto
Zoey Chesley
Abbey Pearson
Nora Wilcek
Josie Wise
Graduate Student Awards
Shea Graduate Fellowship
Jiacheng Huang
Michael Ofori
Anastasia Micich
Cydney Grannan
Rongjin (Jinny) Zhang
Ting He
Wenwen Cao
Ningyuan Ma
Michael H. Anderson Award
Zhiya Gao
Kaiyi Yu
Md Mahbubul Haque Bhuiyan
Yumiko Ehara
Nicole Marie Klevanskaya
Kriss Research Grant
Rongjin (Jinny) Zhang
Kaiyi Yu
Isaac Conrad
Ting He
Rongwei (Rita) Tang
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Rongwei (Rita) Tang: “Understanding People’s Experience of Being Corrected on Social Media”
Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Research Award
Chloe Gansen
"Responses to Politicized News Media Coverage About Health and Science"
Trevor Zaucha
"Component Capitalism and the Platform Model: Toward an Acceleration of Designed Exploitation and Gamblified Finance"
Sig Mickelson Family Fellowship for Media Ethics
Ningyuan Ma
“Journalists’ Interaction with LLMs AI Tools from Human-Machine Communication Perspective: 'Human in the Loop' in Prompt Engineering and Fact-checking Practices"
Anastasia Micich
"Deceptive Non-Disclosure in Video News Releases: How News Stations Disclose (or Don’t) Independent Press Release Materials in Local News Markets"
Dan Wackman First-Year Graduate Student Research Award
Monica Crawford
"A labor of love: How fans of women’s sports navigate streaming subscriptions and slow changes in coverage"
Cydney Grannan, Honorable Mention
"Affluent influencers stripped of minority identities: How newspapers articulate their audience to advertisers”
This event is made possible by generous partnerships with the following:
Hubbard Broadcasting • The Minnesota Star Tribune • KNOCK • Padilla • Brew: Creative Media • Target • Fast Horse
