ATTENTION:
News editors, Business editors, Feature editors,
Photo editors, Assignment desks

CONTACTS:
Sarah A. Shrode, SPJ Director of Communications, 425/452-4846 or sshrode@spj.org

DOUBLETREE HOTEL, BELLEVUE, Wash. –The Society of Professional Journalists awarded Colorado State University graduate Aimee Heckel the Julie Galvan Outstanding Campus Chapter Member Award.

Heckel was chosen for her outstanding leadership as president of the SPJ Colorado State University Campus Chapter, her excellent academic record, her ability to balance schoolwork with a full-time job in the journalism field and her intensive volunteer work in her community. She now works as an education reporter for the Daily Reporter-Herald in Loveland, Colo.

“Her outstanding credentials and experiences outlined in (her) resumé leave me wondering how she found the time to do it all,” wrote Kris Kodrich, assistant professor and SPJ adviser at Colorado State, in a nomination letter for Heckel. “Yet those activities speak highly to her character, service to the community, scholarship, proficiency in practical journalism and significant contributions to the CSU chapter of SPJ. I’ve never seen anyone so deserved of recognition for her four years of outstanding contributions to the community.”

Heckel will be recognized Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Mark of Excellence Awards Luncheon of the 2001 SPJ National Convention. The banquet will take place from noon-2 p.m. in the Evergreen Ballroom of the DoubleTree Hotel, 300 112th Ave., S.E., Bellevue.

“I was standing in line at a coffee shop when my cell phone rang,” Heckel said, “and when a man’s voice on the other end told me I had been chosen for this amazing award, I first thought it was my little brother joking with me. When I realized it was real, I was so excited to tell my editor that I ran out of the coffee shop and forgot to take my coffee with me!”

At the close of the college year, each campus chapter of the Society selects one graduate in journalism who is the outstanding in his or her class on the basis of character, service to the community, scholarship, proficiency in practical journalism and significant contributions to his or her SPJ chapter. From this group, the Society’s leaders select one graduate who is considered most outstanding for national recognition.

The award is named in memory of Julie Galvan, a former president of the SPJ San Jose State University Campus Chapter, who was killed in a car accident in 1996.

The Society of Professional Journalists works to improve and protect journalism. The organization is the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.

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MEDIA PASSES: Media passes for events at the Oct. 4-6 2001 SPJ National Convention may be obtained at the convention’s onsite SPJ Office at the DoubleTree Hotel – Bellevue, 300 112th Ave., S.E., Bellevue, Wash.

For more information or to obtain a media pass, contact Sarah A. Shrode, SPJ Director of Communications, at sshrode@spj.org or at the convention's onsite SPJ Office.