Pictured, from left, are Tennessee Golden Press Card Award winners Trevor Jolley, Lexi Foley, Caleb McCool, Megan Cooper, Maleah Holder and Mallori Crocker
photo by Dr. Erin Ryan/UTC
Seven students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Communication were honored with a school record-breaking nine total awards in the 2024 Tennessee Golden Press Card Awards competition.
The competition, hosted by the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, recognizes excellence in journalism and media. The 2025 ceremony took place on May 15 in Knoxville.
The awards reflect the Department of Communication’s long-standing emphasis on hands-on experience and student-led media outlets, such as The University Echo and Rising Rock.
One of the winners, rising junior Mallori Crocker, earned first place in Best Continuing Coverage for her reporting on the 2024 presidential election for The University Echo.
The other winners are all recent UTC graduates whose 2024 projects were eligible under contest rules:
• Trevor Jolley, sports editor for The University Echo, won first place in Sports Beat Reporting, Sports Reporting, and Best Sports Photography.
• Lexi Foley, former editor-in-chief of Rising Rock and sports editor for The University Echo, won first place in Best Feature Story for “Chain Breakers.”
• Connor Spelta received first place in Best News Coverage for his Rising Rock story “Dirty Dirt.”
• Megan Cooper won first place in Podcasting for her audio production work on a series of Rising Rock packages.
• Caleb McCool received first place in Best News Photography for his Rising Rock coverage of the Henagar, Alabama, tornado.
• Maleah Holder earned second place in Best News Coverage for her Rising Rock story “Sun-Less Soiree,” part of a 2024 solar eclipse series.