2024 UConn Journalism Award Winners and Scholarship Recipients

We celebrated our favorite event of the academic year on April 25, 2024 — UConn Journalism’s annual awards night. Congratulations to our 19 winners, who received a total of $27,000 in scholarships, and to the 39 members of the Class of 2024, who received graduation honor cords at the ceremony.

The featured event speaker was alum Keila Torres Ocasio ’07, who is enterprise editor at The Connecticut Mirror. She encouraged students to lean into their curiosity and ‘nosiness’ as journalists to help them uncover important stories and opportunities in their own careers.

Scholarship winners by award:

Donald and Jewell Friedman Award
• Erica Yirenkyi
• Kaily Martinez

Charles Litsky Memorial Scholarship
• Erika Avellino
• Mikayla Bunnell
• Sophia Makin
• Sara Bedigian
• Daniel Stark
• Amanda Ameral
• Gianni Salisbury
• Hannah Parr
• Desirae Sin
• Molly Moriarty

Sheehan Family Journalism Scholarship
• Anna Heqimi

John Breen Scholarship
• Delan Li

Dave Solomon Scholarship
• Matt Corpuz
• Jalen Allen
• Alicia Monge

Terese Aronoff Karmel Award for Sports Journalism
• Amaree Love

Michael J. Whalen Journalism Award
• Delan Li

Barbara K. Hill Award
• Amanda McCard

Special guests at the April 25 event included emeritus professors Maureen Croteau, Wayne Worcester and Marcel Dufresne, and John Hill, the son of the late Barbara Hill, whose memorial scholarship supports the junior UConn journalism major with the highest GPA.