By Heather Monahan
Staff Writer
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the 11th Annual Dr. Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise was awarded Tuesday afternoon. This year’s award was presented to Manuela Marin-Salcedo.
The ceremony, held in Dresser Auditorium, recognizes a senior female in the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication who holds outstanding character traits both in the classroom and out.
Marin-Salcedo, a member of the women’s tennis team, will graduate in May with an honors degree in journalism and mass communication, as well as minors in Italian and English.
A member of the National Honor Society Kappa Tau Alpha and the Student Athlete Advisor Committee, Marin-Salcedo plans to turn her honors project into a foundation in the future.
Her honors project is an ethnographic research project of a small Colombian village, Rincon del Mar. She spent eight weeks among the people of the village and observed how they lived.
“The people of this village live in extreme poverty, more than anything many SBU students have ever witnessed, yet they live happily,” she said. “I felt that I could learn from them, while eventually helping them out by creating a foundation. With my foundation, I hope to make their lives easier, not necessarily by bringing in any material goods they might need, but by teaching them to use the resources available to them to their own advantage.”
Some of her experience outside St. Bonaventure includes interning at various magazines, including Revista Diners in Bogota, Colombia and PHOTO Magazine in Paris and attending the Francis E. Kelley Oxford program in England.
Marin-Salcedo was recently accepted to Syracuse University to further her education in photojournalism. She plans on pursuing a career in which she can tell stories through her photos and writing.
“I like to travel and speak,” Marin-Salcedo said. “I figured journalism and mass communication could be a gateway to something bigger.”
Although she was recruited for the tennis team, Marin-Salcedo remembers her recruiting visit with fondness. Her mother met Denny Wilkins, professor of journalism and mass communication, and approved of the school immediately.
Before the award was presented to Marin-Salcedo, Pauline Hoffmann, interim dean of the school of journalism and mass communication, Kathy Geller Meyers, ’90, and Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president made speeches.
Sister Margaret spoke of the recent excitement on campus and the attention the school has been bringing in.
“For the past week, we have ranged between number three and number 10 on national Google searches,” she said.
Meyers, the keynote speaker, described a woman of promise as a woman who is smart, prepared, resourceful and fearless.
“She reads to learn but also learns so she can read,” Meyers said.
Meyers spoke to the students in attendance as a whole, advising them not to fret about the future or decisions.
“You make a decision and then you make it right for you,” she said, quoting advice her father gave her before she took her first job out of college.
After the speech, Hoffmann took the stage again to introduce Marin-Salcedo.
Although Marin-Salcedo’s parents were unable to attend the event, her mother was able to watch the ceremony from Colombia via Skype. Her father and brother, who were at work and college, respectively, later watched the recorded video.
In addition, two of Marin-Salcedo’s closest friends, Alicia D’Alessandro, a senior journalism and mass communication major, and Rachel Rodriguez, a senior history major, were in attendance to stand in for her parents.
Marin-Salcedo remembered a phone call with her mother during her freshman year when she was upset and homesick.
“She told me to suck it up or transfer,” she said.
Marin-Salcedo said she was glad she stuck it out, when she remembered her memories from Bonaventure, such as funny moments in class with John Hanchette, retired associate professor, of journalism and mass communication, and Wilkins.
She also pointed out she wouldn’t have met her boyfriend or her best friends if she had transferred.
Marin-Salcedo ended her speech by thanking everyone who helped her get to where she is now.
“Instead of honoring me, I’d like to honor those who believed in me,” she said before promising not to let them down.
Marin-Salcedo admitted that she was not expecting to be recognized with the award.
“I never thought I’d be recognized in this way,” she said.
She described the experience as a very humbling one.
The ceremony also honored Dr. Mary A. Hamilton, for whom the ceremony is named after. She was honored as a distinguished graduate.
Hamilton, one of the first journalism and mass communication majors, was once the chair of the journalism and mass communication department and helped elevate it to a school.
Sister Margare explained the enthusiasm brought about by recent events, including the recognition of Hamilton and Marin-Salcedo.
“This is a very exciting time for women on many counts here at St. Bonaventure,” she said.
