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Updated:
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Posted: April 30, 2008 |
Contact:
NABJ Communications
(866) 479-NABJ
Howard University host to Top Journalism Educator and Student Journalist
Black Journalists group honors Dr. Lawrence Kaggwa and Jamisha Purdy in awards first
WASHINGTON, D.C. April 30, 2009 -- The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced that for the first time in the history of its special honors, a professor and student from the same institution will be honored with Journalism Educator of the Year and Student Journalist of the Year, respectively. Journalism professor Lawrence Kaggwa and student Jamisha Purdy were named as the honorees at the NABJ spring Board Meeting in Tampa, and will be commended at the organization’s Hall of Fame Induction and Banquet on August 7, in Tampa.
 “Howard University’s role in journalism education has always been outstanding, and we praise these individuals for their dedication to the profession,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “As the media landscape evolves, it takes innovative people like Dr. Kaggwa and Jamisha who have an eye toward the horizon to embrace such change.”
For the greater part of 30 years at Howard University and before that at Norfolk State University in Virginia, Kaggwa has shared a degree of kinship with his students while demanding high quality, deadline-driven reporting and editing assignments. His students have carried with them the memory of long hours of coaching as they rose to leadership positions in newspaper, radio, television and online newsrooms.
“Kwagga has put the J in Journalism at Howard University,” said NABJ Region II Director Charles Robinson. “He has legions of young journalists and seasoned veterans alike, who he has guided and it is a distinct honor that is well deserved.”
Added Ciara, “Compassion for others and a selfless attitude have been guiding principles for Dr. Kaggwa, and the results are born in his long history of student success.”
To keep his skills current, Kaggwa has worked as a reporter at newspapers and a news service for the past six summers. In the 1960s, he was a reporter at the /Los Angeles Times/, the /Hartford Courant/ and the Ridgewood (N.J.) /Herald News/.
Jamisha Purdy has stood out as one of the most successful and mature student-journalists in years at Howard University where her professors have embraced the opportunity to challenge her with writing assignments that have allowed her to flourish.
“Jamisha demonstrates a level of sophistication and maturity as a reporter that is far beyond her age,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara.
The NABJ Board of Directors commended Purdy’s stories as the “best overall examples of work” submitted for the top student prize.
Purdy has written for the Metro Section of Washingtonpost.com since 2007. She also writes regularly for Howard University’s /District Chronicles /and BlackCollegeView.Com. She earned her Associate of Arts degree from Miami-Dade College’s Honors College, where she was a news editor for /The Falcon Times/.
The NABJ Convention is the largest gathering of minority journalists in the country. The NABJ Hall of Fame Inductions and Banquet will take place at the 2009 NABJ Annual Convention and Career Fair, August 5-9 in Tampa.
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.
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