WACO, Texas (Aug. 6, 2020) – Marlene S. Neill, Ph.D., associate professor and graduate program director of Baylor University’s department of journalism, public relations and new media, has been named a member in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) College of Fellows.

Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media faculty and staff are excited to present this issue of the alumni newsletter! It is filled with good news and updates of interest to our JPR&NM family.

Throughout the summer we are featuring videos of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media alumni. Below are a few of the videos on our Facebook page. Please send us your video if you would like to be featured on our social media.

The Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media is committed to cultivating a culture of global and domestic diversity, equity and inclusion in our student body, faculty, staff and curriculum.

More than two dozen students were honored in the first-ever virtual awards ceremony for the Department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Friday, May 15. COVID-19 could not keep faculty and staff from recognizing our best students and graduates, continuing a long-standing end-of-the-year tradition.

As part of an outreach strategy starting in January 2020, JPR&NM folks decided to start touring Texas cities with large alumni bases. When the COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel, the tours were switched to Zoom meetings.

Along the way, it was decided to combine various classes with the physical location to attract "Zoomers" with similar interests.

Kimberly Willingham Hubbard, a 2008 JPRNM graduate, has just published her first book, Crowned in Promise: 100 Prayers for Your Children, which contains “individually-themed prayers to claim over the lives of your children.”

She was “a young girl at Baylor” who had to “buy a book about writing books” when she realized her dream could be won with “enthusiasm and Jesus.”

Grace Valentine.

That’s her real name. There are multiple facsimiles on Facebook but only one Grace Valentine with 30,000 copies of “Am I Enough?” sold worldwide.

Professor Matthew Brammer will join the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media in the fall as a lecturer. Brammer has a passion for storytelling, coaching and connecting with people.

Baylor alumnus Derwin Graham Jr. graduated from Baylor University in 2015 — and in five years, he said he’s experienced more success than he ever dreamed he would.

Graham ran track for Baylor during 2014 and 2015 while a pursuing a journalism major and a minor in film and digital media. Today he’s an award-winning screenwriter and ESPN production assistant.

The Baylor Lariat welcomes Anaheim Hills, Calif., senior Madalyn Watson as its fall 2020 editor-in-chief. Madalyn has worked her way around the newsroom over the past two years, serving as reporter, staff writer, arts and life editor and print managing editor. She has earned a reputation among her fellow staffers as a team player who will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Dr. Alec Tefertiller is eager to join the faculty of Baylor University’s Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media in August. The tenure-track assistant professor has spent the last three years at the Kansas State University A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

JPR&NM Chair Mia Moody-Ramirez is equally excited to add another full-time faculty member to the department.

In February, Baylor President Linda Livingstone notified the department that Professor Robert Darden had unanimously been named the 27th Master Teacher in Baylor University history.

In her official letter, the president wrote, "Your years of dedication and commitment to teaching and to our students is outstanding. The enthusiastic letters of support that were received by the committee affirm the profound and lasting impact that you have had on those individuals' lives and careers."

Baylor’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

PRSSA endeavors to take students’ knowledge and academic work and transition those skills to a professional setting where students can network and get real-world exposure to PR work.

Due to market demand and technological improvements, the Baylor Journalism, Public Relations & New Media Department is launching a new online master’s degree program.

Advertising and public relations professionals looking to enhance their skills and pursue advancement opportunities will be able to complete the coursework in approximately 2.5 years while still working full time.

The summer months can be a great time for conducting academic research and new course development.

A Baylor journalism professor and her coauthor were awarded one of 12 grants by the Arthur W. Page Center for ethics research as part of a special call for research on organizational listening. Dr. Marlene Neill, Baylor associate professor, and Dr. Shannon Bowen, University of South Carolina professor, will be conducting 30 in-depth interviews and survey research with more than 250 communication professionals for their study, “Ethical Organizational Listening for Stakeholder Engagement and Responsibility.”

The holiday season is the perfect time to reflect on why we are thankful in the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media. After completing my first semester as chair of this wonderful unit, I took a walk down memory lane and—although short—it was crammed with reminders of why I am grateful to be a part of the Baylor University family.

Most notably, we have some of the best students on the planet. The profiles in this newsletter highlight the accomplishments of just a few of our alumni—Claire St. Amant, Christi Soto, Lindsey Draper, Tom Belden, Bailey Brammer and Molly Atchison. Many more JPRNM alumni are thriving in the workforce. We would love to hear from you all.

Baylor alumnus Tom Belden, one of the first recipients of the Wilson Fielder Jr. Scholarship, has had an extensive career in journalism, having worked for notable news publications such as the Dallas Morning News and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Having gotten his start at The Baylor Lariat, Belden said that he was able to take what he learned and apply it to professional work outside of college.

For the past five years, Lindsay Draper has made strides in the rankings at the Dallas Cowboys organization, becoming the weekly co-host for the press conference replay. She produces and edits video packages for weekly shows and produces daily reports at the NFL training camp.

Draper graduated from Baylor in 2012 with a BA in journalism. She was in Delta Epsilon Iota Honors Society and Pi Beta Phi sorority. Along with her commitments to schoolwork and clubs, she said she never missed a Baylor football game.

The George’s restaurant on Speight Avenue features a mural of famous Georges that was designed by a Baylor student.

The mural features six famous Georges: boxer George Foreman, country singer George Strait, comedian George Lopez and three presidents – George Washington, George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush.

Bailey Brammer and Molly Atchison are two recent graduates of Baylor University who are looking to make a difference in the journalism world. They both work as news producers for KXXV-TV in Waco in the Scripps Journalism Career Program (JCP).

The JCP is a program created by Scripps – KXXV’s parent company -- to involve recent graduates in many different parts of the journalism field and give them first-hand experience. This is the first year the program has been in place at KXXV, and Brammer and Atchison were the first two Scripps employees in Waco to enter the program.

Dedicated, committed and perseverant, KWTX-TV news anchor Christy Soto continues to carve her journalism path toward a successful future.

Now in her second year at News 10, Soto said she’s always wanted to work in journalism, and her passion and belief in God opened doors for her to be where she is today.

Claire St. Amant was involved in many things during her time at Baylor, including being a staff writer and city editor for The Baylor Lariat, a member of the club lacrosse team and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

It was her time at the Lariat that eventually led her to her current position as a field producer for 48 Hours.

Baylor alumna Sommer Ingram Dean interviewed NPR’s Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, discussing the beginnings of her journalism career and her longtime coverage of the Supreme Court.

Two Baylor journalism professors will be presenting their research at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication annual conference in Toronto, Canada from Aug. 7-9.