Skip Navigation

Alumni Updates


 

Notable Alumni News

Gaylord Alumna Named Outstanding Graduate by SPJ

After working to grow OU’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter, recent graduate Katelyn Howard earned the 2020 Julie Galvan Outstanding Graduate in Journalism Award from SPJ.

According to a press release from SPJ, “this award honors a journalism graduate nominated by their campus chapters and selected by the Society's leaders on the basis of character, service to the community, scholarship, proficiency in practical journalism and significant contributions to their SPJ chapter. The award is named in memory of Julie Galvan, a former president of the SPJ San Jose State University Campus Chapter, who was killed in a car accident while on her way to an internship in 1996.” Howard was recognized virtually during the SPJ 2020 Journalism Conference in September.

Howard, who came to OU from Midland, Texas, joined the group as a sophomore. As chapter president, she began to focus on reviving attendance and participation. These efforts included providing engaging and helpful programming, which included panels about immigration reporting to making podcasts and everything in between. OU SPJ earned the Outstanding Campus Chapter Award for Region 8 in 2018-19.

During the fall 2019 semester, Howard continued to lead the club while interning at SiriusXM Radio in New York City. As an undergraduate student, Howard also interned The Journal Record and The Poteau Daily News and worked at the OU Daily and OU Nightly. Howard and other Gaylord students also traveled to Iowa to cover the 2020 Democratic caucuses.  

In January 2019, Howard started working as a part-time student at KGOU, which led to her current full-time role as reporter/producer at the radio station.

Howard said she was surprised and happy when she learned she had received the award, especially since she did not know she had been nominated, Howard added she is grateful that Yvette Walker, assistant dean of student affairs and SPJ advisor, and a couple of the chapter’s other officers, took the time to fill out the nomination form for her.

“It made me feel good to have recognition for the work that I had put in as a student journalist over the past four years, but it also made me feel good that SPJ is recognizing the work of student journalists and is finding value in the work that student journalists do.”

For Howard, Gaylord College gave her many of the resources that she needed to be successful as a journalist. She said she loved her classes because they taught a mix of skills she would need after graduation.

Jenny Creech

OU Nightly Wins "Best of Show" at Broadcast Education Association On Location Virtual Conference

OU Nightly was presented Best Show award for Newscast during the Broadcast Education Association On-Location Conference Awards Virtual Ceremony this afternoon, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.

The award was for the OnLine edition of the newscast produced by junior Morgan Owens and edited by director senior Curt Watson on April 9, 2020. The newscast went online in late March after the pandemic closed the OU campus. Three of their peers earned Awards of Excellence for their work in the spring and summer of 2020, senior Brooke Murski and juniors Shannon Ehrhardt and Will Blessing. The three also worked on the Online newscast in March and April of 2020. All the students worked under the leadership of OU Nightly Executive Producer Barbara Merckx and Senior Producer Abby Foster (May ’20 graduate).

BEA On Location Best of Show
OU Nightly (Online Edition 4-9-20) | Morgan Owens & Curt Watson – University of Oklahoma

BEA On Location Award of Excellence
Protest Brings Suburb Violence | Shannon Ehrhardt – University of Oklahoma
Rod’s Barber Shop Reopens | Will Blessing – University of Oklahoma
Car Sales During COVID-19 | Brooke Murski – University of Oklahoma

Congratulations to the students, News Director Bob Dickey and the entire OU Nightly team.

In Memoriam

Join us in honoring the alumni we've lost over the past few months. They will be dearly missed.


Carolee Galbraith

(October 6, 1935 - July 12, 2020)

Carolee Galbraith died peacefully at her home surrounded by family on Sunday, July 12, 2020, at the age of 84. Galbraith attended Columbia College in Missouri and then obtained her B.A. in radio and television with minors in English and journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1957. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon Rho, Delta Psi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha women's fraternity. After living as a military family for more than 15 years and moving to several bases, she came back to Oklahoma and spent 28 years in radio and television working for WKY, KLEC, KOCO, KOFM, KKNG, and retired from OETA as a Technical Director. In addition to many awards and recognitions, one of her most cherished career achievements was being nominated for an Emmy for writing "The Oklahoma I Remember."


David McCullough

(January 6, 1953 - August 27, 2020)

William David McCullough Jr. died on Thursday, August 27, 2020 after a short but valiant battle with acute Leukemia. David started his career as a journalist who later, as an attorney, became a champion for freedom of information and First Amendment issues. After graduating with a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma in 1977, he became a general assignment reporter for The Duncan Banner. He was named sports editor of the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat in 1978, and a year later was hired as manager editor of the Guthrie Daily Leader. In 1989, he started working as an attorney on behalf of news organizations for the Oklahoma Press Association and then became a founding member of Freedom of Information Oklahoma (FOI Oklahoma). David served as the Chief Counsel and Attorney General for the Wyandotte Nation Tribe over the past 28 years, and he also worked with the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma for more than 35 years.