Society of Professional Journalists Student Chapter Honored for Excellence

INDIANAPOLIS—Aug. 18, 2009—The University of Texas at Austin student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) will be honored for its outstanding work at the society’s convention and national journalism conference on Aug. 28 in Indianapolis.

Annually, each of SPJ’s 12 regional directors selects one chapter in his or her region that has performed outstanding service to the society, their campus and the journalism profession. From these 12 chapters, one chapter is selected by the vice president for campus chapter affairs as the Outstanding Campus Chapter of the Year.

The University of Texas at Austin chapter is one of 16 in Region 8 of the SPJ. The other honorees are:
Region 1: Ithaca University
Region 2: Virginia Tech University
Region 3: University of Florida
Region 4: Ohio University
Region 5: Loyola University Chicago
Region 6: St. Cloud State University
Region7: University of Missouri
Region 9: Weber State University
Region 10: Pacific Lutheran University
Region 11: California State University, Fullerton
Region 12: University of Mississippi

From this group, University of Florida was selected for the Outstanding Campus Chapter honor.

“The University of Florida chapter served as a model with a lot of quality programming, involvement at the regional and national levels, and some stunning success in recruitment and retention," said Neil Ralston, the SPJ’s vice president for campus chapter affairs.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.

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Contacts:
Lauren Rochester, SPJ Awards Coordinator, 317-927-8000 ext. 210
Karen Grabowski, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317-927-8000 ext. 215
Jessi Propst, president University of Texas at Austin chapter of SPJ