SILOAM SPRINGS -- Three John Brown University communication majors and the newspaper faculty adviser were among those receiving national honors in the National Federation of Press Women annual communications contest.
Award-winners were announced in a virtual ceremony on June 11 as a part of the organization's virtual national conference.
Students recognized were:
• Orry Phillips, a junior, received first place in the collegiate/education division for sports writing; first place in the collegiate/education division for opinion/editorial/reviews writing; and third place in the professional division for podcast.
• Maria Aguilar, a senior, received first place in the collegiate/education division for news writing.
• Grace Lindquist, a senior, received second place in the collegiate/education division for features writing.
Debbie Miller, a communication faculty member and the faculty adviser for The Threefold Advocate, received second place in the collegiate/education division for faculty adviser of a student publication, station or site.
Miller also was elected treasurer of the NFPW and will serve a two-year term that concludes in 2023. She was co-chairwoman of the virtual conference originally scheduled as an in-person conference for 2020 and then moved to 2021.
The conference's keynote speakers were Michelle Duster, the great-granddaughter of Ida B. Wells and the author of the 2021 book "Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells;" and Elizabeth Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Little Rock Central High School in the 1950s.
NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio and television.
A distinguished group of professional journalists, communications specialists and educators judged nearly 2,000 entries in a wide variety of categories. Only first-place winning entries at the state level are eligible to enter the national contest. All entries were published or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020.