The Department of Communications is recognizing outstanding student awardees, scholarship winners and honors students virtually as the 2022-2023 academic year comes to an end. In addition to the student awards, scholarships and honors, the Department of Communications recognizes two faculty members with distinguished faculty awards.
Outstanding Undergraduate Students
Outstanding students are those who have excelled academically by earning the top Grade Point Average in their concentration.
Amelia Alim, Advertising
Xochitl Rodriguez, Public Relations
Samantha Ashley Tulabing, Entertainment and Tourism
Vanessa Amber Siguenza, Journalism
Professional Promise Undergraduate Students
The Professional Promise Award is given to the student who has demonstrated exceptional potential for a career in the field, as nominated and voted on by the faculty. These are the top student awards in each of our concentrations.
Chloe Lau, Advertising
Gabriel Valenzuela, Entertainment and Tourism
Alexis De La Cruz, Journalism
Priyanka Jain, Public Relations
James Jordan Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement
The James Jordan Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement is named for a history professor, who was influential in establishing our department. The award recognizes the student with highest cumulative GPA. It is a remarkable achievement since our department has nearly 1,700 students.
Amelia Alim, Advertising
J. William Maxwell Outstanding Communications Student
The J. William Maxwell Outstanding Communications Student Award honors the founding chair and leading visionary of our department. The award exemplifies what our ideal communications student should be: high levels of scholarship, leadership, career focus, and service to the department.
Vanessa Amber Siguenza, Journalism
Gerhard Friedrich Award for Exceptional Professional Promise
The Gerhard Friedrich Award for Exceptional Professional Promise is named for a former Dean of Humanities who was instrumental in establishing our department. The honor is given to a graduating senior who demonstrates great potential to achieve professional excellence in a communications-related field. Award recipients demonstrate career promise in a variety of ways, including classroom performance, leadership, participation in relevant student and professional organizations, and overall interest in the field.
Priyanka Jain, Public Relations
Each year we honor outstanding graduate students for their achievements as a teaching assistant and in each of our three graduate concentrations: Mass Communications Research and Theory, Professional Communications, and Communications in Tourism and Entertainment.
Bayla Gomberg, Graduate Student Teaching/Research Assistant
Dina Saad, Research and Theorty Graduate Student
Hamilton Schmid, Professional Communications Student
Lauren Sosa, Tourism & Entertainment Graduate Student
Department Chair Leadership Awards
Each year, Dr. Jason Shepard, with the help of our faculty, selects students for special recognition with a Department Chair Leadership Award. This award recognizes excellence in scholarship, leadership and involvement in department activities.
Annisa Charles
Bayla Gomberg
Chloe Lau
Spencer Otte
Hugo Rios
Dina Saad
Isabela Veloro
Distinguished Full-Time Faculty Member
Ron Romain
Distinguished Part-Time Faculty Member
Richard Favela
Scholarships
Ferry Gene Baylon
Crystal Bender
Andrea Casillas
Precious Castellanos
Annisa Charles
Jessica Choi
Brenda Elizondo
Alexis Johnson-Fowlkes
Joshua Jurado
Rebeca Loyola
Kristen Maglunog
Dominic Samaniego
Vanessa Amber Siguenza
Luis Vizcaino Cortez
Andres Webster
Kristen Wilcox
Alfred and Louise Hewitt Journalism Fund
Andres Webster Cabrera
Barbara K. Rickard-Riegle Broadcast Journalism Fund
Skylr Scott
Bergstrom Family Scholarship
Aarionna Dnae Cox
Lucero Bustamante
Mia Mendoza
Chris Dufresne Sports Journalism Scholarship
Christian Rebottaro
COMM Titan Shops/ Titan Bookstore Scholarship
Xzachary Rositas
David Little Scholarship
Nathan Villasenor
Denise Harrison Integrity Scholarship
Rebeca de la Cruz
Echeveste Family Scholarship
Francisco Molina
Edgar P. Trotter Scholarship
Leslie Olivo
Mia Mendoza
Gary Granville Memorial Scholarship
David Nunez
Dominic Samaniego
Guadalupe Austin Memorial Scholarship
Brandon Caudill
Hennessey Family Scholarship
Nghi Nha To
IAAPA Foundation/Themed Advisors LLC Scholarship
Bernadette Velasco
Brooke Borges
Ingrid and Jordan Smart Scholarship
Mia Perez
James Alexander Scholarship
Emily Castro-Luis
Jay Berman Daily Titan Scholarship
Dominic Samaniego
Luis Vizcaino Cortes
The John and Jessie Maxwell Communications Scholarship
Amelia R Alim
Andres Webster Cabrera
Aspen J Olsen
Ava D Villalobos
Bernadette Velasco
Brenda P. Elizondo
Brooke Alexandra Borges
Catherine Cervantes
Cesar Barreto Villanueva
Charles B. Graham
Christian M. Rebottaro
David Nunez
Dominic Samaniego
Eddie Alexander Flores Orozco
Emily Castro-Luis
Emily M. Sinon
Evelyn N. Soriano
Fabian Acosta
Faith Jordan Bray
Gabriel D. Perez
Gabriela Gradillas
Gianna Luisa Horvath
Haley Lopez
Hritu Parna Barua
Htet Myet Ko
Jakob Michael Gil
Jenin Jomaa
Jessica A. Ryan
Jonathan C. Espinoza
Jorjette Alexandria Rosales
Julian E. Sandoval
Kathryn F. Alves
Kaylee Gabriela Tatengo
Luis Esteban Vizcaino Cortes
Malia K. Medina
Mariana Cerriteno
May T. Pham
Mia Mendoza
Michael M. Yoshinaga
Mingyu Wu
Miranda N. Davis
Nathan Evan Villasenor
Nghi Nha To
Noah A. Ramos
Paulina L. Reyes
Samuel A. Enriquez
Seleney Yveth Orozco
Skylr Scott
Stacy Arriaza
Taylor Payne
Valeria Banuelos
Vanessa Rodriguez
Xzachary Rositas
Yelka Gonzalez-Vargas
John Stewart Memorial Scholarship
Andres Webster Cabrera
Gabriela Gradillas
Kirsten Maglunog
Luis Vizcaino Cortes
Lucio Villa Scholarship
Brenda Elizondo
Miven Venture Partners
Gianna Horvath
Mona A. Baset Scholarship
Dominic Samaniego
Myles Atlas Memorial Scholarship
Brandon Caudill
Sha-Aeschelmann Study Abroad Scholarship
Mariel Danganan
The Society of Professional Journalists Scholarship
David Nunez
Terry Hynes Scholarship
Brandon Caudill
May Pham
Tien Family Scholarship
Bernadette Velasco
Tom Pasqua Memorial Scholarship
Dulce Flores
V.J. Lovero Photojournalism Scholarship
Jaelynn Wright
Viet Dzung Human Rights Scholarship
Ami Kristy Suzui
Htet Myet Ko
Vikki Vargas/NBC4 Broadcast Journalism Scholarship
Skylr Scott
Laura Min Brooks Scholarship
Gwynnevere De La Cruz
Valerie Castrillon
Honors
Summa Cum Laude
Amelia Alim
Xochitl Rodriguez
Jan Ashly Cheng
Juan Lugo
Samantha Ashley Tulabing
Clerise Yumul
Vanessa Amber Siguenza
Raegina Sanchez
Faith Lee
Megan Paet
Omar Garcia
Michael DeAngelo
Magna Cum Laude
Dalavy Hak
Matthew Nelsen
Emily Castillo
Emily DePoorter
Trinh Nguyen
Carlli Ruiz
Andres Webster Cabrera
Priyanka Jain
Kaitlyn Elpedes
Karen Kim
Gabriela Angel
Siyun Guo
Timothy Petersen
Megan Colbacchini
Allison Ruiz
Taylor Stewart
Eileen Arriaga
Amanda Mendoza
Heidi Gutierrez
Caitlin Hay
Hoang Khanh Linh Lam
Lauren Nadal
Farhaan Pathan
Cum Laude
Kelly Yap
Samantha Anderson
Cynthia Estrada
Sydney Kowalski
Wen Hao Law
Ariana Nava
William Sargenti
Kristofer Medina
Elizabeth Wilbanks
Luna Alsamman
Candace Castillo
Gwynnevere De La Cruz
Nathan Wee
Tessa Chavez
Chloe Lau
Nicole Trinidad
Jared Hansen
Alexis Hyer
Ethan Luong
Brenda Rubio
Ferry Baylon
Lauren Whitehurst
Summer Armstrong
Sean Ayale
Joshua Jurado
Emily Melgar
Samantha Belmudes
Huu Tin Cao
Jonathan Gonzalez
Haley Arendt
Kaitlyn Kennedy
Sean Kim
Jena Keesha Salcedo
Lauren Mann
Aaron Benitez
Alexis De La Cruz
Anna McIntosh
Liezl Zulueta
Sara Howell
Ryan Oentojo
Carrie Estela
Alexandra Mayorga
Mackenzie Koch
Saffron MacDonald
Jeremae Calma
Henry Martinez
Mayra Martinez
Randall Ramirez
Andrea Woods
Jessica Rosas
Noah Peyton
Megan Vien
Desire Gomez
Isabel Guerrero Lubarsky
Anna Melendres
Haeun Park
Alan Ramirez
Mariah Williams
Joann Yoo
Huy Nguyen
Ryan Jensen
Danielle Lopez
Averi Lozinski
Jeffrey Dang
Natalie Fransz
Cameron Eacobellis
Jordan Gonzales
Sinclair Andruska
Camila Garcia
Ana Sanchez
Donya Kishawi
Brianna Lister
Olivia Barger
Brooklyn Fears
Emily Lopez
Marisa Palmerin-Flores
Camille Yocum
Trisha Claire Abu
Caleb Feliciano
Alexis Johnson-Fowlkes
Joshua Villafranco
Crystal Garcia
Samantha Horrocks
Lydia Kelley
Gillian Frey
Jason Lopez
Theo Pologeorgis
Shahrouz Tagha Gallo
Erin Belanger
Candace Mendoza
Tanner Bootow
Taylor Scofield
Academic honors designations in Commencement are for bachelor’s degree recipients only based on the overall performance at the end of Fall 2022 semester. Official award of appropriate diplomas and recognition of honors achieved are contingent upon the candidates having met all University requirements and related criteria. If final grades change the honors designation, the new designation will be printed on the transcript and diploma.
