Pictured (left to right) are Expect Diversity host David Pilgrim, guest Rita Walters
and guest Sgt. Jim Eddinger.
Ferris State University’s Expect Diversity television show has earned a first-place award from the Broadcast Education Association in the “Television News Magazine” category. The announcement was made on Feb. 18 as part of the BEA’s Festival of Media Arts.
Expect Diversity is produced by faculty and students in Ferris’ Television and Digital Media Production program under the direction of College of Education and Human Services faculty member Glen Okonoski, the department chair for the School of Digital Media. The show is hosted by David Pilgrim, Ferris’ vice president for Diversity and Inclusion.
The specific Expect Diversity episode that won the BEA award focused on the topic of community policing. Show guests were Rita Walters, an assistant professor in Ferris’ College of Arts, Sciences and Education’ Social Work program, and Sgt. Jim Eddinger, from the Big Rapids Department of Public Safety.
“We are thrilled to have TDMP student work recognized in this way. Curriculum in the
TDMP program engages students in their learning through project-oriented work that
is often collaborative and community focused,” Okonoski said. “The students felt community
policing was an important topic to cover, in this forum, and the resulting discussion
was very informative and interesting. That their work was recognized, nationally by
the BEA, is a testament to the quality of storytelling that our students routinely
create through their learning.”
Ferris’ TDMP 385 Studio Production class is responsible for the production of the
program. Students in the class are listed below:
Student Producer
Jesse Woodworth of Big Rapids, Mich.
Student Crew
Garet Foote of Lowell, Mich.
Dominique Gordon of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Cassandra Rachauskas of Battle Creek, Mich.
Jeffrey Rynberg of Muskegon, Mich.
Torico Searcy of Warren, Mich.
Jacob Vanauker of Coldwater, Mich.
The BEA festival consisted of 1,538 total entries with 281 awards granted and 101 winning schools.