BY CASSIDEY KAVATHAS, NEWS EDITOR
The 61st Annual Mark Hellinger Award Ceremony and Luncheon will be held Monday, Oct. 11, at 11:30 a.m at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This ceremony will honor 2021 Hellinger Award winner Michael Hogan and runner-up Jeffrey Uveino; 2020 winner Cameron Hurst and runner-up Layne Dowdall; SBU alumni Charlie Specht, ’10, and Danica Roem, ’06; and two recent additions to the Jandoli School’s Wall of Distinguished Graduates: Jackie Trescott, ’68, and Joan Roeben Licursi, ’65. The event will also feature a keynote address from broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, an anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour. Woodruff has covered politics and news for five decades at NBC, CNN and PBS.
The luncheon will bring together students, faculty, staff, alumni and previous Hellinger winners to celebrate these achievements in person for the first time since 2019.
“I’m just really glad we’re able to do it this year. It was really sad last year when we weren’t able to have the in person event and we just had a Zoom call for the honorees in our advisory council and Dr. Deperro joined as well,” said Aaron Chimbel, Dean of the Jandoli school of communication. “It’s nice to honor both years for the 2020 and 2021 honorees, as well as our two distinguished graduates who we haven’t been able to honor either since we added them to our wall. It’ll be a really exciting day with a lot of folks to recognize and hear from.”
While the return to an in-person luncheon offers a restoration of normalcy, Hurst noted that something would be missing from this year’s celebration.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling [to celebrate in person]. I’m so grateful that they kept the commitment to honor Layne Dowdall and me, and I’m also really looking forward to reconnecting with so many of the alums, my classmates and my fellow honorees,” said Hurst. “But it’s also melancholy because there’s going to be one very looming absence. When the ceremony was cancelled last year, Dr. Dennis DePerro reached out and told me he ‘looked forward to celebrating this achievement in the style it deserves.’ He had such a big impact on me and my time at Bonaventure. The small Zoom ceremony last year that we had was really the last time I had a chance to see and talk to him and I’ll never forget the proud smile on his face. I’m hoping he’ll be watching with a similar smile from above.”
The Hellinger is named for Mark John Hellinger, an American journalist, theater columnist and film producer. The award was established in 1960 by Jim Bishop, who worked with Hellinger at the New York Daily News and considered him his mentor. The Hellinger is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the Jandoli School.
“It’s a humbling, yet daunting honor. When you look at the list of Hellinger winners that have come before and when you really understand the rich history behind the award, it’s really overwhelming to be included with such incredible professionals — Neil Cavuto, Mike Vaccaro, Amy Wojnarowski, Michael Hill, Rachel Axon, Charlie Specht, and so many others,” said Hurst. “To know that my name gets to sit on the same list as theirs is something I just could not have imagined when I began my time at St. Bonaventure five years ago.”
Hogan agreed with Hurst on the prestige that surrounds the award and the expectations that come with it.
“It’s really an incredible honor for me and those people [Jandoli faculty] because I know it means a lot to them to see their students go on and do great things,” said Hogan. “That was always a goal of mine. I don’t want to disappoint the people who taught me for years and gave me so many great opportunities.”
To both Hogan and Hurst, the Jandoli Faculty share this honor with them: this award also goes to the people who helped them become the journalists they are today.
“I really share this award with those who believed in me and pushed me to put out my very best. That no doubt includes professors like Denny Wilkins, Carole McNall, Chris Mackowski, and the [Richard A. and Anne] Lees just to name a few. But that also includes the generation of Jandoli school students I grew up with: Layne, Mike Hogan and Jeff Uveino being among them,” said Hurst. “This profession can be overly competitive and cutthroat at times. What I loved about Bona’s was the collaboration. We made each other better. We shared by-lines. We carpooled to cover basketball games. We edited each other’s stories.”
Hogan summarized his relationship with the Jandoli school by emphasizing his own growth through it and the many opportunities offered to him.
“There are all sorts of things that I can say about the Jandoli school, but at the end of the day, people know about the school and people know of all the great talents and people who work there and go to school there,” said Hogan. “In my opinion, it is the best journalism school in the country and I’m so thankful for everything that’s come to me through it and everyone who I’ve been able to meet because of The Jandoli school.”
kavathcj20@bonaventure.edu
