By Hannah Gordon
News Assignment Editor
The faculty of the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication named senior Madison Thieman the 54th annual Mark Hellinger Award recipient.
The award is presented to a senior journalism and mass communication major who displayed excellence in academics and great potential in their field during their time at St. Bonaventure University.
During her time at Bonaventure, Thieman has worked with Kwerkworks, the university chapter of American Advertising Federation (AAF), SBU-TV, The Intrepid and tutored in the Writing Lab in the Teaching and Learning Center. She has interned with the First-Year Experience office, the Office of Marketing and Communications, the Marietta Times in Ohio, Dream Magazine in California and Inspired PR in California.
Thieman said she was surprised that the Jandoli school faculty chose her for the award.
“I still don’t really have words to describe my emotions,” Thieman said. “I have an enormous amount of respect for the JMC faculty, so the fact that they voted for me is simply humbling.”
Thieman said she never expected to win, but for her friend and roommate, Madeleine Gionet, graduate student in the integrated marketing and communication program, said Thieman was a clear choice.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that she deserves it,” Gionet said. “When they said that Madison had won, it clicked. It was perfect. Since she’s technically a senior, but she’s of junior age, I wasn’t sure where they would put her. It was only a shock because I knew she was definitely a contender, but I didn’t know whether they would consider her for this year or for next year.”
Gionet, who was last year’s Hellinger Award recipient, and Thieman were introduced to each other by Denny Wilkins, professor of journalism and mass communication.
“I sort of welcomed her into the JMC family and of blossomed from there,” Gionet said. “We were in American Advertising Federation (AAF) together last year. We worked on The Intrepid together. Being in the JMC program together you end up seeing those people a lot, so it was a really cool friendship with her.”
Wilkins, who advised Thieman, said she made crucial choices early in her college career.
“A fundamental decision that Madison made was that she wanted to take courses from as many different faculty as she could,” Wilkins said. “So pragmatically, she took courses from as many journalism professors as she could. She was exposed, perhaps, to more journalism faculty than other students were because she wanted more viewpoints, she wanted more ideas, she wanted exposure to more philosophies and she took that same approach in courses outside this major. That is a mature decision.”
Thieman said winning the Hellinger award is reassurance she’s doing well, but she says she still has far to go.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten far in my career. There is still so much more to do,” Thieman said. “But I think I’ve gotten to this point because of my persistence and dedication to learning and experiencing the world. Also, I have great role models in my life.”
Thieman said she’s grateful for the positive people in her life and the Jandoli School.
“Winning the award is a great reminder that I’m on the right track and have left a positive impression on the Jandoli School,” Thieman said. “As a senior, I don’t think I could have asked for more.”
