A college student speaks to two other students on front of her large research poster display. Another college student stands in the background with his display poster.

Student Success | Spring 2026

Published Apr 29, 2026 by
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Check out this sampling of CFAC student successes during the previous quarter, from about February to April 2026. Congratulations to everyone making waves on their educational paths!

 

Jaime Behar, a School of Communication senior and lacrosse player, received The Depalo Award for Highest GPA at the East Carolina Athletics Goldspys award ceremony.
On a dark stage, a college student in an ECU jersey is show on a projection screen, while the student holds an award and stands behind a large check held by two men on either side of her. Two people stand at a podium behind them.

 

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and Society of Professional Journalists recognized multiple School of Communication (SOC) students this spring for their work on “Countenance” magazine during the 2024-2025 academic year. “Countenance” is a general feature magazine SOC students produce each year.

From the CSPA, “Countenance” also won a Silver Crown Award for college general print magazine. The Crown Awards are the highest CSPA recognition given to a student print or digital medium for overall excellence.

Columbia Press Association Circle Awards:

  • Mya Alderman, third place, non-fiction article for “Should Pretty Hurt?” about “texturism,” a form of discrimination against Afro-textured hair, a bias that affects many Black women.
  • Shahd Allahabi ’25, certificate of merit, non-fiction article and certificate of merit, non-fiction interview for “A Lucky Find,” the story of a man who experienced the foster care system as a child after his mother tragically died, and eventually found community at a Raleigh coffee shop.
  • Darian Hale, second place, informational graphics for “Where the Far East Meets Eastern North Carolina,” depicting the types of food for sale at the Far East Emporium
  • Mara Grace Phinney, certificate of merit, non-fiction article and certificate of merit, non-fiction interview for “Where the Far East Meets Eastern North Carolina” about a Havelock business where shoppers can find food and other goods they became familiar with while stationed in Asia with the Marines.
    • Certificate of merit, single news feature photograph for photography in “Where the Far East Meets Eastern North Carolina”
  • Darrius Wood, certificate of merit, informational graphics for “A Lucky Find,” depicting resources for those aging out of the foster care system

Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Awards, Region 2/Large (includes universities with over 10,000 students in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia):

  • Mya Alderman, finalist, feature writing for “Should Pretty Hurt?”
  • Shahd Allahabi ’25, first place, personality profile writing for “A Lucky Find”
  • Pel Law, finalist, personality profile writing for “A Passion for Teaching” about a teacher based in Carrboro who teaches English as a Second Language online to many refugee and other students
  • Madison McKenna, first place, feature writing for “Desperately Seeking Affordable Housing” about urgent challenges ECU students face as they seek affordable housing while in college

As first-place winners, Alderman and McKenna will compete next at the national level with other Mark of Excellence winners from the other 12 SPJ regions.

Cover of Countenance magazine, with one large photo of a woman sitting on a chair, holding a ukelele. Image of a magazine page with a headshot of the college student author, and a leaf. The article is "A Lucky Find: How one man's journey through life led to a special cafe." Image of a magazine page showing the headshot of the college student author, with a pink bar at the top with "Issues in Profile" and article text below. A magazine page with a red bar and "Business" at the top, with a headshot of the college student author. Part of a photo of a brick shopping center and a North Carolina flag are present with the article text.

 

Taylor Greene, a junior animation/interactive design and Honors College student, earned fifth place in this year’s Gene T. Aman Pirate Challenge, receiving $3,000 for her entrepreneurial venture, CarriOn. Taylor’s business concept reimagines roadkill cleanup through a more environmentally responsible model. In her pitch, Taylor proposed a service that not only supports roadkill removal in Pitt County, but also repurposes animal materials into specialty products instead of sending them to landfills. Her presentation highlighted both the practical and environmental value of the idea, including its potential to reduce waste, lower disposal costs, and create additional revenue through product reuse.

An adult puts his arm around the shoulders of a college student, as they stand in front of a table and banner showing a pirate and cannon with the logo for the ECU Miller School of Entrepreneurship, Gene T. Aman Pirate Challenge.

Taylor with her entrepreneurship mentor, Tyler Lumley from the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center.

 

CFAC had incredible representation at Research and Creative Achievement Week!

  • School of Music undergraduates in music therapy presented posters on April 6. Connor Pellicie represented Performing Arts, while Abigail Ortiz and Grayson Davis co-authored a poster representing Interdisciplinary Innovation.
  • School of Art and Design graduate students gave podium presentations on April 7: Liam Aley, Cullen Austin, Stacy Bolkovac, Mavis Bullard, Denton, Heather Fraccalvieri, Autumn Gobble, Sam Gorritz, Morgan Hesse, Eliza Landis, Rachael Lowman, Narges Sedaghat, Ava Starnes, Savannah Willis
    • As part of the RCAW awards, Narges and Ava tied as winners for Graduate Students, Podium Presentations for Art and Design.
    • For the first time, RCAW engaged with alumni and art community members as judges for this MFA portion. The judges were: Sonya Coulson Rook (Metamorphosis Metals), Sim Asher (LightHouse Visuals), Jonathan Burger (Craven Arts), Lisette Fee (Eilisain Jewelry), Anna Hinson (Wayne County Arts Council), and Sara Lazure (Emerge Gallery and Art Center)
  • From freshmen to graduate students, the School of Music held a Creative Showcase on April 9. Performing were: Spectacles Trombone Quintet (Brigham Jensen, Tyler Morris-Huntley, Trey Mosley, Josh Pendergraph, and Oliver Pustilnik, with Dr. William Haugeberg); Josh Pendergraph; Noah Abel; Ethan Wood; James Dodson; Priya Pace; Paris Gonzalez; Rachael Lee; Sarah Stewart; and Joseph Carrell, Sam Hall, and Neo Jenkins; with Dr. Narae Lee and Sarah Weeks on piano

 

In news from the School of Art and Design…

  • Dozens of SOAD students participated in the school’s second Studio Crawl, sponsored by the Friends of SOAD. Students opened their studios, and showcased and sold their art on the evening of April 8. Read more about this year’s crawl and some of our art students!
  • The SOAD also held a student appreciation morning in April, offering students this year’s new logo pin (in orange!) and a spread of brunch options to keep them going as the spring semester comes to a close.
  • In the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate School rankings released in April, the SOAD’s MFA program made the top 100 programs across the country, in a tie for 92nd, out of more than 200 schools ranked. This year is the first since 2020 that U.S. News ranked MFA programs.
College students gather in front of a long table of food items, in the foyer of a building. Glass windows are behind them.

Student appreciation Spring 2026

Two college students pose behind a white cardboard booth with a purple awning.

Studio Crawl 2026

 

Our music therapy program was well represented during the Southeastern Region of the American Music Therapy Association conference, held in Charlotte March 11-14. Twenty ECU students attended, with six seniors and Dr. Adrienne Steiner-Brett presenting posters. While an ECU student did not win the research poster award, the students and program received positive feedback about the strength of their studies, their presentations, and the program’s reputation.

ECU alumna Kathleen Harris ’23 also presented, with colleagues from UNC Health, about music therapy in the youth behavioral health hospital (“Sound, Structure, and Safety: Music therapy for youth with dual diagnosis in behavioral health”).

Most of the music therapy research class presented their posters again at Fletcher Music Center in April, sharing their research and findings with their music peers. Presenting were Natalia Irusta, Jordan Jones, Hema Nambi, Abigail Ortiz, Dexter Poindexter, and Katie Sutherland.

College students gather around six large posters on stands in a building foyer.

 

School of Theatre and Dance students are used to attending large auditions for multiple casting companies at once, but got the unique opportunity for one casting company — RWS Global — to come to them on campus for a Q&A session and auditions. Since the representatives’ visit in February, several students have received callbacks, advancing in the audition process toward job offers. The importance of participating in audition opportunities was clear as musical theatre senior Hannah Watters received an offer from one of the larger auditions for her dream job: a vocalist role on the Seven Seas Explorer, part of the Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleet. She sets sail on this new adventure in August.