Pitt Office of Public Affairs Wins 5 PBMF Awards, is Finalist in Two Golden Quill Award Categories

Enjoying the May 19 reception for the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation’s (PBMF) annual Robert L. Vann Awards were a number of Pitt awardees and members of the University community. Seated is George E. Barbour (A&S ’51), a former award-winning reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier. Standing, from left, are Pitt history professor Laurence Glasco; Pitt Magazine Senior Editor Cara Masset; Deborah Walker, student conduct officer and assistant to the dean in Pitt's Office of Student Affairs, who was the focus of a Vann Award-winning story in the University Times by reporter Peter Hart; freelance writer Renee Aldrich; and Anthony M. Moore, assistant to Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill.

The University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Public Affairs won five Robert L. Vann Awards from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation (PBMF) and was a two-time finalist in the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s Golden Quill Awards competition.

The PBMF’s annual Robert L. Vann Awards reception was held May 19 in the William Pitt Union. The 47th Annual Golden Quill Awards were presented May 9 during a dinner at the Sheraton Hotel, Station Square.

Vann Awards

In the category of Magazine Commentary, Robert Hill, Pitt vice chancellor for public affairs, and Anthony M. Moore, assistant to Vice Chancellor Hill, won first place for their 2010 Blue Gold and Black piece “Black Like Me: Crossing Racial Lines and the Ambiguity of Racial Identity in America.”

In the category of Magazine Feature Story, Pitt Magazine Senior Editor Cara Masset won first place for her article “Love’s Palette.”

Peter Hart, a writer for the University Times, won a second-place award in the News Feature category for “Making Pitt Work: Deborah Walker.”

Writers of the Pitt Chronicle’s “2010 Black History Month Series”— Morgan Kelly, Anthony M. Moore, Amanda Leff Ritchie, and Patricia Lomando White—won second place in the Series category.

In the Magazine Feature Story category, Renee Aldrich won third place for her 2010 Blue Gold and Black article titled “Power in Black and White: George Barbour Profile Story.”

Finally, one Pitt professor and three Pitt alumni won individual honors during the Vann Awards presentation. PBMF Communicator of the Year awards were presented to Laurence Glasco, professor of history; Sylvester Pace (EDUC ‘82G), CEO of the Negro Educational Emergency Drive (NEED); and Donna Baxter (CGS ’97), a multimedia communicator. George E. Barbour (A&S ’51), an award-winning reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier, received the Journalism Legacy Award.

Golden Quills

In the Golden Quills category of Best Writing, Magazines, Pitt Magazine Senior Editor Ervin Dyer was a finalist for his article titled “Power in Black and White.”

In the Health/Medical, Magazines category, freelance writer Jennifer Bails was a finalist for her Pitt Magazine story titled “Man in Motion.”