Knorr’s personal connection with the game, which she played as a child during sleepovers, inspired her to explore the story of its creation.

Knorr, an associate professor of English at Regis University, chose to detail the history of the game, rather than appraise its value and quality. She said she hopes readers will appreciate the influential role “GoldenEye 007” had in the development of first-person shooter games and video game culture.

“The game was at the end of the pre-internet era,” Knorr said. “It was in that generation of the last games that people played together in person before we were only playing games online for a long time.”

Knorr said she faced many challenges in researching and writing the definitive history of the game.

“The biggest challenge is that people had already written about it,” Knorr said. “A lot of my work was a compilation of what was already out there and putting it in a story that made sense. That allowed me to ask the game developers new and interesting questions.”

As a writer and educator, Knorr’s experience at ������Ƶ influenced her approach to writing this book. She was a double major in journalism and creative writing at ������Ƶ and became heavily involved in The Pendulum, the university’s student-run newspaper. She credits her college experiences with providing her the skills and knowledge she needed to write professionally.

“I am so grateful to ������Ƶ for teaching me lessons about writing, journalism, and life that continue to make me feel like a fulfilled human being today,” Knorr said.

Knorr also drew inspiration from her instructors at ������Ƶ, who encouraged her to push herself in her writing and investigative journalism.

Drew Perry, an associate professor of English, served as a mentor to Knorr during college and is no stranger to her success.

“I remember Alyse as a voracious and omnivorous reader, as somebody possessed of an enviably fierce work ethic, an always generous critic, and a writer who made the classroom a better, smarter place,” Perry said. “It’s no surprise to me that she’s publishing in all the best places, and all the time — all of us in the writing program knew she would be.”

Knorr hopes for a broader understanding and appreciation of video games as a form of art and cultural expression. She said they are the most popular form of entertainment today and offer unique ways to tell stories.

“I am really proud to be a part of this emerging art form of cultural criticisms of video games,” Knorr said. “They’ve only been around for 50 years now so you’re writing about something as it is still emerging.”

“GoldenEye 007” is available for purchase as a hardcover or paperback at .

Four years later, he is the newly elected president of Limelight Productions, ������Ƶ’s student-run record label for up-and-coming student musicians.

Laxton, a music production major with a marketing and analytics minor, auditioned for Limelight as soon as he arrived on ������Ƶ’s campus in 2021. He was initially signed as an artist and eventually transitioned from vice president of production to vice president and now to president.

“I love Limelight,” Laxton said. “It has been crucial in my growth at ������Ƶ. The people I have met in this label will be my lifelong friends. It is very rewarding to be a part of an organization that facilitates such a supportive and encouraging environment.”

Laxton faced a learning curve as vice president of production. Managing music production differed from making his own music, and he had to learn how to “steer the ship.”

In the role, he learned how to gain respect in the boardroom, deal with conflict, and compromise. He credits the previous president, Veda Skog ‘23, for modeling effective leadership and his professors for pushing him to improve musically and academically.

Clay Stevenson, a senior lecturer in music, witnessed Laxton’s musical talents and leadership skills in the classroom and is confident of the positive change he will bring to Limelight.

“​​Jacob has been an active member of Limelight since arriving at ������Ƶ,” Stevenson said. “His background as a self-published music creator and producer provides him with intimate knowledge of many aspects of the music industry. He’s a person who engages well with both creatives and business-minded individuals, positioning him for success as the next leader of the organization.”

This semester, Laxton is responsible for managing the dates and details of the compilation CD that was released this spring. It is available for purchase at Oak House, Keith’s CDs and Tapes in Burlington, or by messaging Limelight Records on Instagram.

Although he is busy with the tasks of vice president, he still performs and produces his own music as often as he can. Laxton said he makes indie pop, dreamy music with hip-hop and R&B influences, mixing different genres into his own unique sound.

He plans to increase campus engagement with Limelight through live events and expand the organization’s marketing and PR efforts. He said he hopes to get more artists on streaming platforms and to produce new physical products.

“Music connects people,” Laxton said. “I have already found joy in creating a creative environment for musicians with my previous positions at Limelight, and I will continue to do this as president. I intend to focus on this sense of community and to push the organization forward, creating a healthy and safe organization that supports creatives and artists alike.”

But Orcutt didn’t let his lack of experience hold him back. He joined ������Ƶ Student Television, ������Ƶ’s student-run TV station that produces four television shows, in his first week on campus.

Now, Orcutt, a cinema and television arts and journalism double major with a creative writing minor, is the ESTV station manager.

“ESTV is the reason why I have friends on this campus,” Orcutt said. “I haven’t fully processed that I am now in this leadership role, but I am excited to jump in. There are a lot of people relying on me and I need to figure out how to best manage these shows and various staff.”

Orcutt started as a writer for “������Ƶ Tonight,” a popular show on ESTV, and quickly moved up the ranks, becoming the development coordinator and eventually the marketing manager for all of ESTV. His ability to adapt and make friends quickly, despite being an introvert, helped him forge strong relationships within ESTV.

Kai Swanson, assistant professor of cinema and television arts and faculty adviser to ESTV, worked with Orcutt in his marketing manager role and witnessed his “keen eye for creativity” firsthand.

“Caleb is a natural leader who is always willing to go above and beyond to ensure the success of his team,” Swanson said. “His passion for the film and television industries is infectious, and he has a clear vision for the future of the station. I have no doubt that Caleb would bring a fresh perspective and a wealth of talent to the role of station manager.”

Orcutt said he aims to “bring the four shows together and have them help each other out” to create a more cohesive organization and improve the quality of all ESTV shows.

Orcutt is excited about his leadership role in ESTV and acknowledges the responsibility that comes with it. He is known for his quick problem-solving skills and humor during challenging situations and plans to work alongside talented producers to keep ESTV’s positive momentum.

“I want to fully embrace new ideas, such as a streaming platform and a new show, and continue to help promote those in a way where we could try to speed up the process,” Orcutt said. “Since the world of TV is such a quickly changing industry and one of the most in-demand, it’s important to me that we continue to stay up to date on big changes so that way there is not such a big difference for students who transition from these in studio shows into the real world.”

Orcutt’s passion for film and his journey in ESTV exemplifies his determination, adaptability and commitment to building a strong student group on campus. As he takes on his leadership role in ESTV, he said he aims to increase the size of the ESTV staff, embrace industry changes and continue to pursue his love for film.

“I have been interested in storytelling ever since I was a kid, and ������Ƶ provides so many opportunities for film majors to become prepared for the real world,” Orcutt said. “Becoming the station manager is a role I take extremely seriously and seek to only improve the program. ESTV is one of the best opportunities here at ������Ƶ and I hope that I can spread my excitement to many new students on campus.”

Olivia Allen-Price ’09 has shifted from audio producing to narrative writing as the author of “,” which is set to release in May. The ������Ƶ alumna said she hopes to inspire curiosity about the Bay Area through the book’s illustrated deep-dives into hidden gems about San Francisco trivia, history and culture.

Allen-Price’s journey to the book began at KQED in 2013, when she started at the station as an engagement producer. Eventually, she began to work with the audience to develop story ideas, asking them, “What do you want to know about?” The project, called “Bay Curious,” launched in 2015 and became a podcast and occasional radio show in 2017.

She had never done broadcast work before but quickly discovered the ins and outs of podcasting and hosting a show. She described the experience as both terrifying and exciting, as she learned how to write for the ear, edit audio, and use software to host the podcast.

“It’s a ton of work but a ton of fun,” Allen-Price said. “I feel like I have the best job on the planet. Every week we get to explore something unique and meet somebody different from our audience. It is all the things that I love about journalism happening in a week-long format.”

Listeners submitted over 8,000 questions, and the podcast – one of the most downloaded in the Bay Area – became a reliable source of answers to the region’s most curious questions.

Chronicle Books eventually reached out to Allen-Price about publishing a book based on “Bay Curious,” which resonated with her as the next step for the podcast. Almost three years ago, she got serious about publishing and began work on the book while she was eight months pregnant. During her five months of maternity leave, she focused more purposely on the book (and her son).

Now, the book promises to offer even more answers, as it comprises 49 stories about the Bay Area, including some directly inspired by podcast episodes, and 15 brand new stories created just for the volume.

But Allen-Price’s story begins further back, as a double major in journalism and political science at ������Ƶ, where she served as the news editor and editor-in-chief at The Pendulum, the student-run newspaper. Her experience in that newsroom motivated her to pursue journalism after graduation. As editor-in-chief, she revamped The Pendulum’s coverage and staff structure, leading others to recognize her potential.

Colin Donohue ’05, the School of Communications director of student engagement and special projects and an instructor in journalism, served as adviser to The Pendulum in 2009, and he’s not surprised to see the excellence, thoughtfulness and creativity that has followed Allen-Price.

“Olivia was one of the first students I had the pleasure to work with when I started at ������Ƶ in 2007,” Donohue said. “Nearly 16 years later, she remains one of the finest students – and people – I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Olivia served as editor-in-chief of The Pendulum and took the newspaper to heights it had never enjoyed previously. I continue to take great joy in celebrating Olivia’s successes from across the country.”

Allen-Price went on to work for The Virginian-Pilot and Baltimore Sun as an online producer, where she helped the newspapers catch up to online platforms, and managed a small team of engagement producers who worked in social media to connect with the audience in new ways.

After following her passion for the outdoors to the West Coast, she secured a job at KQED, an NPR station in San Francisco, where she has dedicated the past decade of her career. The “Bay Curious” podcast and book are a testament to her dedication and hard work during her time at KQED.

“Bay Curious: Exploring the Hidden True Stories of the San Francisco Bay Area” is currently available for pre-sale and will officially be released on May 2.

“Because this book is inspired by questions that people asked, I do feel like it is by and for the people,” Allen-Price said. “My name is on the front cover, but there are a lot of other people whose work is in this book, from all of the people who sent questions in, to the reporters who worked on the pieces within the book.”

Vincent, a senior lecturer in strategic communications, prepared and taught a weeklong course on campus about the history of Florida, encouraging students to look beyond the tourism stereotypes. Doherty, assistant director of career services for the School of Communications, helped facilitate the program’s itinerary and logistics, and joined Vincent and the students during their travels to the Sunshine State.

Doherty said most of the first-year students already knew their respective majors but were still exploring specific industries of interest. The program offered them a unique opportunity to network while gaining a hands-on perspective of various industries.

“The course is offered as a way for students to explore careers and to build relationships as a cohort,” Doherty said. “It is considered one of the defining experiences of the Communications Fellows program.”

During their 10-day stay, the Fellows visited numerous companies, ranging from production studios to internal communications organizations and full-service PR agencies, and engaged in volunteer work with Mustard Seed of Central Florida, a nonprofit organization that provides clothing and home essentials to families that have endured hardship. The experience also provided time for the Fellows to visit the Pulse Nightclub Memorial, Clearwater Beach and Disney, where they grew closer as a cohort while discussing their individual perspectives and experiences on the places they visited.

Maddie Bauman, a first-year Fellow from Stilwell, Kansas, was drawn to the program for its small size, similarly-minded students, and The Fellows Experience, which she said did not disappoint.

Bauman shared that her time in Orlando and Tampa provided her with a glimpse of her future career and a deep history and appreciation of the state. She was grateful for the time spent with her cohort and the college and career advice from communications professionals.

Bauman also emphasized the significance of networking in the communications field and how this experience allowed her to connect with business professionals in their workplaces.

“So much of communications is about networking and getting to meet all of these incredible people,” Bauman said. “Down the road, I now have people to reach out to. That network is going to continue to grow. It was nice to see the bigger picture and what we’re working towards.”

Doherty observed that the program strengthened the bonds among the Fellows and allowed them to get to know each other better.

“They already had a semester together, but I still saw them come together as they visited new places, had daily bus chats and hosted a cookout,” Doherty said. “They gained the opportunity to connect to each other and to business professionals, which is incredibly valuable at this stage of their journey.”

First outlined as a pilot during Campisano’s senior year, “DROP DEAD” has existed in a couple of different forms through the years. The live-action screenplay touched on their own experiences with mental health and “the general absurdity of real life.”

2016 represented the cusp of change for Campisano, as they recognized that mental health was not receiving the attention in mainstream comedy that it deserved.

“Some really dark comedies that focus on mental health have a toxic character at their center,” Campisano said. “I don’t think that’s a universal experience. Folks who are struggling with mental health do not show it as a big billboard kind of thing. You cannot necessarily tell what someone is going through from the outside.”

Campisano wanted to portray the reality of mental health struggles in a way that everyone could understand. While the world in “DROP DEAD” was a heightened reality, the characters were dealing with serious problems.

Their goal is to get “DROP DEAD” out to the world as a script, and they are not jumping into production anytime soon. Currently, Campisano is working on a comic book, an animated project and a few different shorts.

Campisano majored in cinema arts and television with a focus in screenwriting but also enjoyed taking the occasional English and creative writing course. Not only did they enjoy having a “foot in each world,” they found that the writing in both departments informed each other in style and technique.

They jumped at the opportunity to get involved with student media organizations, writing the humor column for The Pendulum, hosting a weekly radio show on WSOE and working as director of development for ESTV. Campisano also wrote satirical reviews for ������Ƶ’s lifestyle magazine, The Edge, and worked at local restaurant Tangent Eat + Bar.

“It was a big part of what drew me to ������Ƶ originally, the opportunity to hit the ground running from day one,” Campisano said. “I still find myself trying to take on as much as I can in the postgrad world to get back to the joy of juggling a million things.”

Naeemah Clark, professor of cinema and television arts, knew Campisano throughout their time at ������Ƶ and is not surprised with what they are accomplishing today.

“As a first-year student, it was clear that Frankie was a dedicated filmmaker,” Clark said. “His creativity, sense of humor, and willingness to try new things with storytelling has served him well.”

Campisano hopes to use “DROP DEAD” as a starting point for a career learning from field experts and will continue to take their project to contests and festivals. They view the recent recognition as momentum into their creative career and the push to keep working on the craft that they first developed as a student at ������Ƶ.

“I can’t speak highly enough about both the School of Communications and the English department for the career and personal opportunities coming out of ������Ƶ,” Campisano said. “I met my wife in a poetry class. ������Ƶ has shaped my post-grad experience in ways that I never expected it to.”

Full List of Accolades for “DROP DEAD”

• First Place Winner – Best Screenplay – Feel the Reel International Film Festival (Aug 2022)
• Award Winner – Best Dark Comedy Teleplay, Georgia Comedy Film Festival (2022)
• Finalist – Great American Script Contest (2022)
• Finalist – Peachtree Village International Film Festival (2022)
• Finalist – Best Dark Comedy Screenplay, Houston Comedy Film Festival (2022)
• Semi-Finalist – Emerging Screenwriters Comedy Screenplay Competition (2022)
• Semi-Finalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards (Summer 2022)
• Quarter-Finalist – Stage32 New Voices in Animation Screenwriting Contest (2022)
• Quarter-Finalist – Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition (2022)
• Quarter-Finalist – Creative Screenwriting TV Pilot Screenplay Competition (2022)
• Quarter-Finalist – New York Metropolitan Screenwriting Competition (2022)
• Quarter-Finalist – Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards (Season 7)
• Quarter-Finalist – Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards (Season 7)
• Official Selection – Script Summit Screenplay Contest (2022)
• Official Selection – Atlanta Comedy Film Festival (2022)
• Official Selection – Yucca Valley Film Festival (2022)
• Official Selection – Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta (2023)

Spear, who describes her music as “a darker, chamber style of Pop-Americana music that features themes of regret, forgiveness, grief, time and loneliness,” wrote her first song at 13 years old and began performing at 14. She found herself most comfortable on stage and remained focused on her career goals. Writing and recording music filled her time, even as a full-time ������Ƶ student.

Her debut album was written throughout her sophomore and junior years as a music production and recording arts and communications student. She wrote, recorded and executive produced a 10-song record in between classes and school work.

“I’d work on songs in classes, write lyrics on the sides of my homework, and run home to listen to mixes when they were sent my way,” Spear said. “I worked to balance making a full-length album while being a student, which looked like a lot of late nights and testing out new material through on-campus gigs.”

Spear was grateful for the many ������Ƶ students who collaborated on the album with her, including mainly Andrew High ’22, Paloma Dettloff ’22, and Colin McSteen ’23.

McSteen, a music production and recording arts major, said he was eager to help Spear track vocals after getting a taste of what she had already recorded and recognized her dedication to success.

“This album punctuated three years of working with Eliza on campus,” McSteen said. “From my initial role on her marketing team to facilitating her live shows, I watched her achieve goals one after another without ever losing sight of the finish line. In many ways, working with Eliza helped me to mature as an engineer, an audience member and a friend.”

When writing and producing “Right Now, It’s Like This,” Spear would play different melodies, lyrics and chords for each of the songs throughout different campus gigs and watch how people reacted to each different version. She said that the data shaped much of the content now on the album.

She said she hopes that people view her lyrics from a personal perspective and find their own meaning in her songs. After holding onto the album for a while, Spear released it in December 2022 to embark on the next chapter in her musical career.

“I know who I am in this record and the stories I tell, now it’s time for listeners to create their own narratives,” Spear said. “The record has been complete for half a year now. I’m over the moon proud of it. I need to let it live. So let’s let it.”

You can listen to “Right Now, It’s Like This” on , or .

DiFrango, a creative writing and communication design double major, was sent home because of the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring of 2020 – her first year on campus. The thought of returning to ������Ƶ as a sophomore overwhelmed her.

Wanting to ease back into college life and interact with people her own age after six months at home, she joined Colonnades Literary and Art Journal.

DiFrango quickly started as a reader for the fiction and art sections. The organization allowed her to connect with ������Ƶ students before returning to campus in the spring. But she never expected to bond so closely with the people she had met.

“I found myself getting really attached to the two times a week that I was on Zoom with my fellow committee members,” DiFrango said. “It made me feel more comfortable coming back to campus because I had people to return to. It felt so good to find people with similar interests to me on campus.”

DiFrango was encouraged by her peers to get more involved and take the next step to section editor. She said she was shocked when co-advisers Tita Ramirez and Drew Perry, both associate professors of English, motivated her to apply for the editor-in-chief position instead.

Ramirez recognized DiFrango’s potential from her early days at Colonnades.

“Caroline DiFrango is, without a doubt, one of the most engaged, self-starting students I’ve ever worked with,” Ramirez said. “Her intellect and commitment, not just to her own writing, but to that of her peers, is one I rarely see at the undergraduate level. She is a true student of letters, which is why we were thrilled to hire her as this year’s editor-in-chief of Colonnades.”

DiFrango realized her writing and leadership skills proved her worth. But she still felt nervous when she applied and when her close friends reviewed her application for her.

Her mood shifted as she progressed through the hiring process and realized how much she cared about the magazine.

“I immediately felt that Drew and Tita were confident in my ability to handle the position, regardless of my minimal exposure to the different roles on staff,” DiFrango said. “If they think I can do it, then I know I can handle it.”

She said she hopes to bring students from different departments to Colonnades and looks forward to a magazine that “feels more indicative of the ������Ƶ community.”

“I definitely think that a lot of people try to go easier their final year,” DiFrango said. “But because of how unconventional my ������Ƶ journey has been, I think that Colonnades will feel more like a labor of love and less like work because it’s my final big project on campus and my concluding  moment to feel like an ������Ƶ student.”

One of the books, “Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” by journalist and Poynter Institute of Media Studies faculty member Roy Peter Clark, was also being used in Donohue’s Media Writing class this semester.

Clark’s response via tweet: “Invite me to ‘visit’ your class.” So they set a date and on Nov. 17, Clark joined a Zoom call.

After serenading students with a brief acoustic guitar rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes,” Clark shared his journey from a career as an English professor to journalist and author. He spoke about his path to authoring 20 books and the writer’s block he faced along the way.

“When I start writing, I never think it’s any good,” Clark said. “I want it to be good, but it never feels good to me. My standards are very high and when your standards are too high at the beginning of the process, that’s when self-doubt kicks in.”

During the hour-long discussion, Clark fielded questions from students in the class, who had the opportunity to learn about his specific approach to journalism through professional and grammatical tips for success.

“Think of the period as a stop sign,” Clark said. “Every word or phrase that occurs right before the period is going to get special emphasis whether you want it to or not. In almost every joke you tell, humor is predicated on putting the funny bit at the end.”

When writing, Clark said he is a proponent of “trusting the process” and reading aloud everything he writes to catch awkward phrasing. But he also highlighted the importance of tone, the unique, individual style and voice of writing that everyone develops over time.

“You want your writing voice to sound a little better than you are,” Clark said. “The authentic you with some of the rough edges polished off.”

Reflecting on the experience, Donohue is grateful for the unique opportunity his students received and hopes their time with Clark will positively influence their future writing.

“What an absolute honor and privilege to have Roy Peter Clark, often referred to as America’s writing coach, join media writing students to talk about the craft of writing,” Donohue said. “As expected, Dr. Clark offered sage advice, nuanced insights and clarifying lessons about writing and rhetoric. In just 60 minutes on Zoom, he made us all stronger and more discerning writers.”

The article, published in a special issue on “The Health of African Migrants: The Burden, Determinants, and Solutions” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, compares the mental and physical health of U.S.-born and foreign-born Black populations. The manuscript reviews 208 studies and provides a comparative study of the populations, analyzing the pattern of health outcomes between foreign-born and U.S.-born Black people.

“The foreign-born Black population in the United States has risen exponentially over the past few decades. and yet the research on this population has not matched the pace of growth,” Faustin said. “In part, what contributes to this disconnect is the lack of relevant data sources.”

Although there is some complexity, especially with respect to mental health, the overall pattern found across the literature is that foreign-born Black people have lower rates of adverse health outcomes than U.S.-born Black people. Many studies were unable to explain these differences, illustrating the need for more research on the contributing structural mechanisms. This publication also highlighted health outcomes where there is less research that focuses on this within Black comparison, such as cancer research.

Additionally, the study discussed the need for increased data collection and data availability on a nationally representative level for the diverse Black population living in the United States.

The publication may be accessed online .