Missouri School of Journalism to recognize 394 graduates at May 2025 Commencement Ceremony
The Missouri School of Journalism will celebrate the achievements of its May and August graduates during its spring commencement ceremony at 9 a.m., Sunday, May 18, at Mizzou Arena.
The event will recognize students receiving degrees in Bachelor of Journalism, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy programs. The ceremony is free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. For those unable to attend in person, the ceremony will be livestreamed at commencement.missouri.edu.
In addition to the main ceremony, the School will honor the newest inductees into Kappa Tau Alpha, the national journalism honor society that recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship. The KTA ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m., Friday, May 16, in Fisher Auditorium in Gannett Hall. The new members of KTA are:
Doctor of Philosophy: Boitshepo Balozwi, Arthur Bremer, Tianting Zhang
Master of Arts: Sydney Boeger, Ellie Frysztak, Savannah Henderson, Sherae Honeycutt, Elviira Junnila, Sofia Lynch, Benjamin Zweig
Bachelor of Journalism: Paige Bierman, Muyang Cao, Julia Frankel, Chenyu Fu, Yi Gao, Sarah Gassel, Haley Gebauer, Lilyann Hames, Grace Hedenberg, Avery Holton, Rosie Johnson, Tre Kent, Abigail Klapatauskas, Cole Lemasters, Fanbo Liu, Fei Peng, Olivia Plangger, Charlotte Raley, Yasmeen Saadi, Anna Sago, Lorraina Scolaro, Savannah Sleevar, Wenjing Sun, Abigail Throndson, Margaret Turner, Giana Woodfolk, Benjamin Zweig
The School is honored to welcome Nischelle Turner, BJ ’98, as the alumni speaker. Turner is co-host of the nine-time Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight. She joined the program as a correspondent in 2014 and became co-host in 2021. She has won eight Emmy Awards with the show, including the first-ever Daytime Personality-Daily Emmy in 2024, shared with the rest of the on-air team.
Turner is a trusted voice in both entertainment and political news and has appeared on CNN Newsroom, New Day, and CNN Tonight. She has also been part of coverage for major events like the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Grammys. Her journalism career began in sports, reporting for Fox NFL Sunday, as well as Major League Baseball and NBA coverage. She has also hosted Extra on Essence and worked as a freelance reporter and host for KNBC.
Amber Clay, a senior from Atlanta, Georgia, will present the “Thoughts of the Class” during the ceremony. Clay is earning a Bachelor of Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communication and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
While at Mizzou, she held several leadership roles including PR and Treasurer for the Association of Women in Sports Media, Mentorship Chair for the National Association of Black Journalists, and was named a David Novak Leadership Institute Scholar. She is also a proud member of the Delta Tau chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. After graduation, she will move to Washington, D.C., to begin a career in public relations while pursuing her master’s degree in communications.
Aidan O’Connor, originally from the South Side of Chicago, will serve as the master of ceremonies. During his time at the Missouri School of Journalism, he worked in both news and sports at KOMU 8 and contributed to KCOU 88.1 and the KTGR ESPN Radio Network. Aidan thanks his friends, professors, and especially his family for their support throughout his time at Mizzou.
Amber Clay, BJ ’25, “Thoughts of the Class”
We have spent years soft-launching ourselves. Testing the waters, playing it safe, quietly preparing. But guess what? That era ends right now. Today is our hard launch. A declaration of who we are, what we’re here to do, and why it matters. This is our chance to speak loudly, to show up boldly, and to tell our own story. because if we don’t tell our stories, someone else will. And we can’t afford to let anyone else define who we become.
But stories like ours aren’t built on moments, they’re built on momentum. It’s not enough to just say it out loud. We have to live it. Because talking big is easy. Showing up and proving it? Well, that’s easy for us because, as Missouri School of Journalism students, we are the standard. The Missouri Method isn’t just a catchy phrase but it’s our way of learning by doing. We’ve been put to the test, working on real stories, real campaigns, and facing real challenges. It’s sprinting across campus with heavy camera gear, racing against the clock to nail that perfect shot, only to have your interviewee cancel at the last minute but you still figuring it out anyway. lt’s staying up until 3 a.m. editing a video, knowing it’s not just for a grade, but for a real audience. lt’s crafting a PR pitch, crossing your fingers that impresses not just your professor but also a real-world client. It’s running from one deadline to the next, writing, editing, and revising until we know the story is just right. We’ve been doing this. The world needs to Brace itself, because we’re not just stepping out, we’re stepping up and taking over.
And while some in our industry might chase viral moments at the expense of their ethics, we Mizzou grads know that our hard launch is about making an impact without ever compromising who we are. We’re here to break the internet, but never our integrity. Because at Mizzou, integrity isn’t optional; it’s foundational. It’s ingrained in us from day one. It is the belief that the truth isn’t something to manipulate or twist, but something to hold up, protect, and defend.
Class of 2025, I dare you to Grab your pen, your camera, your voice, or whatever it takes. Let’s make sure our story is told exactly the way it deserves to be. Because if we don’t tell our story, someone else will, and they’ll never do it justice. This is our hard launch: bold, direct, and impossible to ignore. Let’s step forward, own our narrative, and show the world what it truly means to be Mizzou-made. Thank you!
Nischelle Turner, BJ ’98, alumni speaker
Good morning Class of 2025.
This is a big day.
A monumental day!
One of the most important days of your life.
I thank you all so much for allowing me to share this day with you to try and give you a word, or a lift or just a little insight into what your future can hold.
I’m so honored to be here because this is a full circle moment for me.
I’m just a kid from COMO…
Born and raised here in Columbia…went to Rock Bridge Elementary, Jefferson Junior High and Rock Bridge high, then graduated from the Journalism school here at Mizzou and now
I’m standing in front of you giving the commencement address.
It’s a huge moment because it was also a student from the journalism school here who gave me that first spark in this business. I remember it like it was yesterday…
I was 12 years old sitting in my living room on Fox Lane in Pierpont and the news came on
on KOMU. There was a woman named April Eaton doing the news that day. At the time, I didn’t know she was a Mizzou grad student. I just knew this was someone who looked like me who was doing something I’d never seen before and I liked it. And I thought, could I? it was that simple of a spark…
But I have to be honest as excited as I am to be here, I almost didn’t give this
commencement address. I almost didn’t show up here today.
I was incredibly honored to be asked to give this speech by Dean Kurpius, but after I said, “yes” I became paralyzed with fear.
I began to think, “who the hell do I think I am? what do I have to tell these young people?
I have no words of wisdom…everyone there is going to see right through me. I’m a fraud.”
Yes, full on imposter syndrome took over my entire body. 27 years of a hard-working career just left. I’m not sure if you have ever experienced anything like this, but after this happened to me you know what I did (like a good university of Missouri trained
journalist) I started asking questions (make some calls and ask people if it had ever happened to them? Felt like they were cosplaying success? Shaquille, Gayle..) At the end of the day what I discovered is…Imposter syndrome is real and at some point in your life and career you are probably going to experience it, but here is the good news…your foundation from here at the university of Missouri school of journalism is so solid there is no room you step in that you don’t belong and are not trained for.
I saw this sign the other day and it sat with me, it said, “the WIN is coming, don’t let the WHEN worry you.”
(repeat and spell)
And THAT is the theme for today…
I remember my graduation day. 1998 (I was on the 5 year plan don’t judge me).
I remember walking across the stage to get my diploma and because I wasn’t someone who went out a lot…yes I was a homebody and KOMU workhorse my friends all screamed out, “GRANNY”! cause that was my nickname.
I was so excited because three days before I had accepted a reporter job at WEHT ABC 25 in Evansville Indiana. I was actually starting my career the next week and man, you couldn’t tell me NOTHING! That cool 20 thousand dollars a year sounded like a lot of money I remember going to my three favorite professors: Greeley Kyle, Stacey Woelfel and the Late great Kent Collins To get advice.
Stacey was the rock….even Steven: his advice was just that…keep showing up…you’ll make mistakes but work, be curious and be tenacious…it will Guide you.
From Greeley (he was the butt kicker): be diligent, don’t lead with WHAT lead with WHY…
And from Kent (he was the lover): just be kind,
But let ‘em know your kindness is not a weakness, always practice the KISS rule and Work from a place of yes. I will tell you, that advice, work from a place of yes…is what has served me the most in my career.
And that’s really what shaped my career…go with me here for a minute…anybody here like baseball?
So you know in baseball there is something called the 5 tool player. That’s the player who is thought of as the complete performer. The player who excels at hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, arm strength and fielding ability…think of someone in the game who is that today…think Mookie Betts, Mike Trout those are five tool players.
My goal was to become the Mookie Betts of the journalism world. Partly because I love tis business partly because I grew up with not much and I wanted to make sure I was the last person fired if times got tough.
So I went from Indiana, to New Orleans and ended up in Los Angeles a news reporter and was doing morning news.
While working in LA, I got a call one day from a man named David Hill, he ran Fox Sports at the time…he asked me to come over and meet with him…I questioned why because I wasn’t a sports reporter…(always asking) David said…just get over here. So I went. When I got there he told me that he wanted to have me start being a sideline reporter for them at the NFL on FOX. I told him I didn’t do sports…I didn’t understand. he simply looked at me and said, “no, but you’re a STORYTELLER.” Floored me. You mean Just being a true to form journalist practicing who what when were why and how led me to the best job of my life and the one that changed everything for me.
The WIN is coming….don’t let the WHEN worry you.
That was a great opportunity and the most fun I’ve ever had on a job, but in terms of BIG CAREER MOVES…they didn’t start in my 20’s didn’t start in my 30’s…they STARTED IN MY 40’s. after many years of local news, national sports and being a CNN correspondent, I came to Entertainment Tonight at the age of 40. I Became the host of ET at 46, I Produced my first national TV show at 47 and this year I turned 50 and am giving
my first commencement address.
The WIN is coming, don’t worry about the WHEN.
So, Have patience…but you have to fall in love with the art of journalism in whatever form you choose it.
DONT’T rush. Learn the craft. Sit in it. Get good at it. Be curious. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Challenge the status quo…whether you’re at a neighborhood watch, city council, state legislator or the White House briefing room. Be that gatekeeper that you swore to be today.
Remember, you have been educated by the best, you have been educated AT THE BEST, the Mizzou mafia is real…lean into it it’s a superpower, and at the end of the day always know like the Pulitzer Prize winning creative genius Kendrick Lamar popped out and told ‘em “They Not like Us…”
Congratulations Class of 2025!
Good Luck and Godspeed!
Updated: May 29, 2025