DIGITAL NEWS
BEST DIGITAL NEWS STORY
Despina Drakopoulos – “The Feminist Press: SUNY Old Westbury Roots, Global Reach” LINK
Annabella Runyan - “Even Preview: From stressed to your best” LINK
Henry Wilson - “First in family, first in line: navigating life as a first-generation college student” LINK
BEST OPINION PIECE
Julia-lyn Cheatham - “From academic probation to confidence and success: one student’s journey” LINK
Thierry Sanz - “Senior Chevaun Cooper's Long Road to the Finish Line” LINK
Annabella Runyan - “Ryan Duffy Profile” LINK
BEST PROFILE
Despina Drakopoulos - “Zero for supposedly AI-generated content” LINK
Ann Bunch - “SUNY Old Westbury was built on social justice. I want it to stay that way.” LINK
Liam McClosky - “Men need mental health support, not ostracization” LINK
BEST DIGITAL NEWS VIDEO
Sophie Popotte - “Caribbean Club fashion show at SUNY Old Westbury.” LINK
Mark Layvey - “It's That Time of The Year Again: Finals!” LINK
Brandon Hernandez - “Halloween Robbery” LINK
BEST NEWS SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO
Kyrah Jones-Griffith: “Why is The Catalyst Important?” LINK
Kyrah Jones-Griffith: “Paper Airplane” LINK
Kyrah Jones-Griffith: “Flow State” LINK
BEST PHOTOJOURNALISM SERIES
RADIO
BEST NEWS SEGMENT
Jillian Schaefer, Nichoas Marsh, Jolline Andre – "OWWR 6 PM News Update" LINK
Logan Elmore – "The Lo Down on OWWR" LINK
Ryan Garcia – "Gary Philips NY Daily News Interview" LINK
BEST STATION PROMO
Ryan Garcia – "OWWR Sports" LINK
Logan Elmore – "The Lo Down on OWWR" LINK
Angelina Zavala – "The Cold Hard on OWWR" LINK
Egosha Emokpae, Patrec Alexander Jones-Brown – "The Culture Seat on OWWR" LINK
BEST CREATIVE PRODUCTION
Angelina Zavala, Jill Schaefer – "Join OWWR Production Department" LINK
Patrec Alexander Jones-Brown – "OWWR on Instagram" LINK
Ryan Garcia – "Moneyball" LINK
BEST SHOW
VIDEO
BEST SELF PORTRAIT
Rayvin Dawkins - “Who Am I?”
BEST CREATIVE VIDEO
Rayvin Dawkins - “The One Who Provides Plenty”
BEST SOCIAL JUSTICE VIDEO
Sofie Popotte - “Liberty and Waste for All”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Kyrah Jones-Griffith - “PASHION 4 FASSION”
Joshua Ramirez Lopez - “Gemelos”
Thomas Summer - “The Break In”
Laieba Chaudhry - “Inside These Walls”
Jolline Andre - “Kevin’s Breakthrough”
Shayla Shaw - “In a Perfect World”
Shayla Shaw - “Thanatophobia”
Elijah Laborde - “The Black Daredevil ”
Joshua Ramirez and Lorenzo Trovato - “Vacant Places - A Mall Documentary”
TV
BEST NEWS PACKAGE REPORTER
Manya Gandhi “The Catalyst”
Jay Samra “OWWR’s Vinylthon”
Joshua Ramirez-Lopez, Laieba Chaudhry, Ethan Ford, Cihara Jaimes, Manya Gandhi, Richard McKenzie “Cracked Ice Exhibit”
Richard McKenzie “SUNY Old Westbury presents the first Presidential Medal to
Dr. Asante”
Rayvin Dawkins “Crear Futuros”
Kelvin Ventura, Victor Hernandez, Joshua Ramirez-Lopez, and Rayvin Dawkins “CREAR Futuros at SUNY Old Westbury”
BEST NEWS PACKAGE
Kelvin Ventura, and Richard McKenzie “SUNY Old Westbury presents the first Presidential Medal to Dr. Asante”
Jolline Andre, Kevin Vasseghi, Richard McKenzie, Ryan Forte, Donovan Johnson “SUNY Old Westbury’s EOP”
BEST SHOW HOST
Richard McKenzie “Know it or Blow it”
Ryan Cuffee Caston “The Black Roundtable”
Heading 5
Rayvin Dawkins “Inside the Panther’s Den”
BEST SPECIAL COVERAGE
Jolline Andre, Gabrielle Gambuzza, Patrec Alexander Jones-Brown, Jahnavi Sripathi, Jaden Nunez “On the Air: A Radio Featured Story”
Laieba Chaudhry, Joshua Ramirez-Lopez - “60th Annual Own Your Future Gala”
Ryan Forte, Richard McKenzie, Rayvin Dawkins, Richard Ramirez-Lopez - “Club Bash 2026”
BEST TV SEGMENT OR EPISODE
Laieba Chaudhry, Joshua Ramirez-Lopez, Rayvin Dawkins, Thomas Summer, Lorenzo Trovato
“Office Hour – Episode 2”
Ryan Forte, Laieba Chaundry,
Jolline Andre, Joshua Minton, Rayvin Dawkins, Kevin Vasseghi, Tylyn LeSane
- “Inside the Panther’s Den”
Richard McKenzie, Donovan Johnson, Joshua Minton, Kelvin Ventura, Yaay Mboup - “What’s Happening Old West”
Richard McKenzie, Jolline Andre Tylyn LeSane, Donovan Johnson, Laieba Chaudhry, Rayvin Dawkins, Victor Hernandez , Kevin Vasseghi - “Know it or Blow it”
NEW MEDIA
BEST VERTICAL VIDEO
Jolline Andre and Richard McKenzie - “Homecoming 2025”
Rayvin Dawkins and Anthony Garcia - “Summer at the Sangha Week Three”
Manya Gandhi - “Club Bash”
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Laieba Chaudhry, Manya Gandhi and Richard McKenzie - “Student Spotlights”
Manya Gandhi and Richard McKenzie - “What's Happening Wednesdays”
Shane Kielb - “Men's Volleyball Meet the Players”
BEST PODCAST
Manya Gandhi - “Building A Future on a Visa” LINK
Shayla Shaw - “Why Are Gas Prices So Scary? | If We Had The Time Ep3” LINK
Ryan Cuffee Caston - “The Black Roundtable, Father’s Day Special” LINK
BEST PORTFOLIO REEL
Jillian Schaefer - “Field Reporting Radio Reel” LINK
Dante Sterling - “Film Reel” LINK
Thomas Summer - “Video Reel” LINK
BEST PORTFOLIO
MAC AWARDS JUDGES
DIGITAL NEWS
Willilam Kelly
Sr. Writer/Communications Coordinator, Palm Beach Civic Association
RADIO
VIDEO
Alexis Raskin
Video Artist, Founding Director of Here on Earth youth filmmakers collective
TV
Timothy Coventry
Producer – Spectrum News 1 Ohio
NEW MEDIA
Noga Cohen
Multidisciplinary Artist
