Bridgewater, Va.–The BCVoice writers, broadcasters and podcasters who were awarded Voice of the Week during the Spring 2020 semester contributed meaningful and thoughtful news to the community, and many did so after the semester took a radical new direction starting March 16 due to COVID-19.

Junior Alex Naupari won the Voice of the Week for reporting on multiple on campus events ranging from Learning Commons Construction Delays in January to the Masculinity Panel in March. Naupari is a communication, technology and culture major.

Jake Smith, who is also a junior communication, technology and culture major at BC, organized and hosted BCVoice-Over of the KCC in January. Smith was also recognized during the semester as a social media team member for his creations of posts as well as connecting the organization to other departments on campus.

Sophomore and community, technology and culture major Jordan Davis was awarded Voice of the Week for covering columnist Jelani Cobb’s appearance at Bridgewater; among the other topics she covered was the moving out process amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Also a communication, technology and culture major, senior Joe Caron received Voice of the Week recognition for his BCVoice Midweek Radio appearances. Caron has reported on and shared his thoughts about national news, sports and entertainment.

Zach Gray, sophomore communication, technology and culture major, won Voice of the Week for his numerous sports articles including covering intramural games. Responding to the changes brought about by COVID-19, Gray reported on the cancellation of March Madness this semester.

Appearing in several Midweek Radio broadcasts, sophomore political science major Isaac Miller reported on national news and entertainment. After winning Voice of the Week, Miller continued to report on current events during the COVID-19 outbreak on Midweek Radio.

Art major and sophomore Brooke DiCicco won Voice of the Week through her strong reporting on Bridgewater College events, from updates on the Learning Commons to the Recycling of K-Cups. DiCicco has also provided coverage on the pandemic, explaining how science professors are handling distance learning.

Senior Ayinde Roberts, communication, technology and culture major at Bridgewater College, has made many appearances on the Midweek Radio broadcast. Roberts also won Voice of the Week this semester for his series titled Cinema Talk, where he discusses video game controversies, new movies and entertainment topics.

Olivia Carson, junior and communication, technology and culture major, won Voice of the Week for a plethora of consistent articles predominately focused on sports. Carson covered men’s basketball, women’s basketball and the end of BC sports for the semester due to the pandemic.

Voice of the Week Fatime Cisse, also a junior and communication, technology and culture major at the college, was recognized for her efforts promoting the BCVoice social media pages this semester.

The final Voice of the Week recipient was sophomore Jalissa White-Jones, a communication, technology and culture major, who wrote consistently both semesters, and once we began operating off-site including co-authoring how online classes are going amid the pandemic. White-Jones also did a few runs on broadcast nights during the fall.

Voice of the Year

The Voice of the Year for the 2019-2020 academic year is junior and professional writing major Laraya Billups. Billups was recognized for her consistent, thorough and timely reporting covering some of BC’s biggest stories such as the strategic resource allocation, an in-depth feature for our special edition on bullying and the initial college closure. A recipient of Voice of the Week in the fall semester, Billups has consistently met deadlines, investigated leads and pushed herself to cover new topics in order to broaden her experience.