St. Bonaventure named Makeda Loney, senior journalism and mass communication major, the 2014 recipient of the Dr. Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise award.
The award is named in honor of Dr. Mary Hamilton, a ’59 St. Bonaventure graduate and a retired associate professor for the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Loney was honored at the annual Woman of Promise ceremony at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, in the Dresser Auditorium of the John J. Murphy Professional Building.
“I stand here today as an example of the future. My standing at this podium today shatters stereotypes,” Loney said in her speech. “I am a woman of the ghetto, a woman of color, a woman of size and a woman of unorganized music-blaring and indecisiveness.”
She continued, “Most people don’t think of me as a ‘woman of promise’ at face value. I don’t know about you but I’m damn proud of myself.”
The award pays tribute to a female journalism and mass communication student who has set an example for peers, excelled both in and out of the classroom and demonstrated potential for future success.
Leah Shearer, ’00, was the keynote speaker. Shearer is the program coordinator of the Teens Living with Cancer program of Melissa’s Living Legacy Teen Cancer Foundation. A two-time cancer survivor herself, she advocates for adolescents and young adults who are under medical care while contending with the isolation of their illness.
In her speech, Shearer summarized the Woman of Promise award as representing perspective, purpose and perseverance. She emphasized how encouraging it is to have people who believe in you and your future.
“The Woman of Promise Award may be interpreted in different ways. To me it is an honor to an outstanding senior woman who exemplifies what the School of JMC stands for,” Pauline Hoffmann, dean of the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication said. “It also represents the best that is to come. The Woman of Promise rewards what we know will come.”
Maddie Gionet, a graduate student in the Intregrated Marketing Communications program and last year’s recipient of the Woman of Promise award, said Loney’s personality will bring her success in the future.
“I’ve worked with Keda last year during American Advertising Federation,” Gionet said. “She brings personality, creativity, happiness; the list goes on and on. I know she is going to do great things. You can’t help but want to be around her and work with her, and I know that will get her very far in life.”
Loney is the first student in the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) to be named a Woman of Promise. Loney was inducted into the HEOP National Honor Society, Chi Alpha Epsilon, in fall 2013.
“HEOP is the main reason for my success,” Loney said. “They pushed me more than anyone in my life has. They made the impossible very much possible through constant support and motivation. I can’t put my thanks into words. My advice for my fellow HEOP students is to keep going.”
Loney’s on campus involvement includes working for the campus radio station WSBU FM 88.3 The Buzz, the American Advertising Federation (AAF), SBU Theater and the Slam Poetry Club. Loney also attended the university’s Francis E. Kelley Oxford Program, studying abroad in England during the summer of 2012.
According to Loney, the most rewarding clubs she has joined have been theater and AAF.
While at St. Bonaventure, Loney has acted in “Burial at Thebes,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Knowing and Unknowing,” “A Year with Frog and Toad,” “The Walls,” and the current production, “42 Shakes: A Work in Progress.” Loney assisted with set design on the play “Don’t Dress for Dinner” and helped with the costume design for “A Year with Frog and Toad”. Recently, Loney did costume design for “The Walls” and she is currently creating costume design for “42 Shakes: A Work in Progress”.
Loney said the organization AAF helped her with her career.
“I found exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, which is advertising,” Loney said. “Thanks to my experience in AAF, I got into the New York Advertising Club Internship Program, and I will be working at a real ad agency in New York City this summer. I’m also going to attend classes at The Creative Circus this fall to study copywriting and become better with my words.”
The Creative Circus is a creative advertising program headquartered in Atlanta.
Hoffman expressed hope that Loney would live up to the promise of the award.
“I think each member of the JMC faculty is excited to see where Makeda will go,” Hoffmann said. “What will she do with her degree? I can’t answer that question because Makeda is always surprising us in remarkable ways.”
bunnyla13@bonaventure.edu
