Keene State College honored women who tell our stories at the 32nd President’s Outstanding Women of New Hampshire award ceremony.
On Thursday, March 23, honorees KSC senior Caitlin Howard, Dr. Marianne Salcetti, Jennifer Carroll, Cecily Weisburgh and Melanie Plenda received recognition for their connections to storytelling in New Hampshire.
“This year’s theme, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,” is based on the fundamental idea that today, as much as ever, storytelling and the dissemination of news give important visibility to our collective history,” the KSC website stated.
“It’s my entire life,” KSC Director of Strategic Communications Paul Miller, nominator of awardee Cecily Weisburgh, remarked about his relationship with journalism. “Journalism [and storytelling to me] is upholding community values.”
Howard, administrative executive editor of The Equinox and graduating senior, received recognition as the Keene State student awardee. Howard, cited for resilience and commitment in her time at The Equinox, stated she enrolled at Keene State College unsure about what to pursue. Soon graduating with a double major in journalism and political science, Howard cited The Equinox for stoking interest in a journalism career.
Salcetti, a former professor and faculty emeritus of KSC’s journalism department, received recognition as a faculty awardee for her commitment to upholding the First Amendment, and her crusading case to get the New Hampshire Supreme Court to recognize student journalists’ rights to know.
This year, the Outstanding Women of New Hampshire (OWNH) Committee selected two regional awardees, unable to select just one — Jennifer Carroll, director of education at the Cheshire Historical Society, and Cecily Weisburgh, executive editor of digital at The Keene Sentinel.
The ceremony opened with remarks from Dottie Morris, KSC’s associate vice president of diversity and inclusion, and KSC President Dr. Melinda Treadwell. Vermont poet Shanta Lee, an award-winning photographer and poet, spoke at the ceremony as well.
Lee said about the power of the story on her website, “I am interested in tasting what is several miles or many years underneath the surface through an exchange that is also the act of discovery.”
Treadwell shared that the awards ceremony is “one of the most profound events,” thanking the awardees for their contributions to their communities through their work.
“Journalism is your service to your community,” stated awardee Plenda during her acceptance. Plenda, director of Granite State News Collaborative, received recognition in the New Hampshire state category.
In closing remarks before an audience of about 100 people, Morris emphasized the importance of continuing to tell stories, of the past, present, and into the future.
Disclaimer: Caitlin Howard is the Administrative Executive Editor for The Equinox.
Marin Macro can be contacted at
marin.macro@keene.edu
