Louisiana Tech journalism students won top awards this past weekend at the Southeast Journalism Conference held at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Universities from eight states compete in SEJC, which consists of a yearly Best of the South competition, where students submit work prior to the conference, and an on-site competition. In the Best of the South competition, which ranks the top ten students in each category, the journalism department brought home the following awards:

• Kaleb Causey, a senior journalism and political science major from Jonesboro, first place for Best Sports Writer;
• The Tech Talk staff, second place in Best Magazine;
• Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay, journalism and photography major from India, third place for Best Press Photographer;
• Hannah Schilling, a senior journalism and political science major from Bossier City, third place in Best Page Designer;
• Reina Kempt, a 2013 journalism graduate, fifth place in Best Special Event Reporter; and
• Daniel Getsinger, a senior journalism major from Shreveport, sixth place in Best Sports Writer.

“This recognition is the just reward our students have earned for their good work,” said Dr. Reginald Owens, chair of the journalism department. “The students work hard to publish a newspaper each week, and they obviously take pride in what they do. We feel good about what we do and these awards are evidence others feel the same.” In the onsite competition that took place Thursday and Friday of the conference, Tech journalism students received:

• John Sadler, a junior journalism major from Extension, second place in media law;
• Mukhopadhyay, second place in news photography;
• Allison East, a senior journalism and history major from Vicksburg, Miss.; second place in editorial writing; and
• Ian Edwards, a junior journalism major from Monroe, and Kelsy Kershaw, a senior merchandising and consumer studies and journalism major from Jennings, third place in public relations.

Tech also received second place in the onsite championship, which is judged by how many students placed in the onsite categories. “I am proud of the success that our students have attained by doing so well in the SEJC Best of the South and onsite competitions,” Owens said. “We are competing against the best journalism schools in the South, and we’re winning.” Next year’s annual conference will be held at Georgia State University in Atlanta.