The GVSU Communication & Media Studies 'Wind In The Sails’ Superior Student Award for Excellence in Academic Achievement and Community Spirit, otherwise known as the WITS Award, is presented to a small number of senior Communication Studies students each year. Award winners represent the multiple and various ways students enrich the classroom and the major. Winners are not selected by any single faculty member, nor is there an application process. Instead, each spring, the communication studies faculty collectively select the winners of the award. The WITS Awards, started during the dark days of the COVID pandemic by Dr. Valerie Peterson from a desire to recognize students who, despite daunting circumstances, kept the spirit of learning and community alive. Since then, the award has continued to honor and celebrate those students who have enlivened their classrooms with their remarkable energy and intellect.

♦2025♦

Jessica Armock

Aisha Brown

Sydney Donaldson

Marley Grangood

Margaret Hann

Daniel Lambert

Mariam Rida

Emerson Rosenberg

Jeanelle Scharphorn

Spencer Staples 

Collin St. John

Lindsey Valentine 

Tigerlily VanAcker

Alena Visnovsky

Alexander Winchester

 

♦2024♦

Amber Beaudry

Robert Black 

Alyse Cross

Cashel Gietzen

Kathleen Heathfield

Mckenzie Idle

Natalie Jacobs

Samantha James

Kira Kildal

Nolan McKendry

Y Hong Nhu Nguyen

Alexa Romine

Anna Tietema

Asante Wilson

 

♦2023♦

Hala Arkoub

Olivia Brand

Jiwon Byun

Grace Devine

Nick Matthews

Katie Poll

Amber Polzin

Sydney Quillian 

Jonathan Quist

Elizabeth Stabile

Landyn Teachout

Megan Walker

 

♦2022♦

Brooklyn Chaffee

Kira D'Agostino

Peter De Deyn

Kyle Gross 

Casey Johanson

Allison Maresh

MaryEllen McCarthy

Emily Modloff

Chad Morris

Makayle Palucki

Lauren Tabacchini

Bryce Thomas

Christopher Tortorelli Jr.

Emery Trautner

 

♦2021♦

Gracyn Brandt  

Emily Cesario

Chris Cooper

McKenna Coyne 

Carly Fleck

Erika Gill

Mackenzie Harbort

Cody Ketchum 

Hunter Kurzawa

Morgan Lemmen

Jaqueline Leonard-Labadie

Carson McCready 

Nick Moran

Marie Townsend

Audrey Whitaker

Caitlin Williams