SEMO professor honored by national media organization

Southeast Missouri State University professor Tamara Buck has been awarded 2022 Distinguished Adviser by the College Media Association.

Buck is the co-adviser of the Arrow student newspaper and chairwoman of the Mass Media Department.

"I am very honored to receive this award," Buck said in a news release. "I have been a member of the College Media Association since 2011 and have seen the caliber of winners of this award. So being selected is a true honor."

Buck first arrived at SEMO in 2001 and helped "pioneer" media curriculum at the university. She became the adviser to the Arrow in 2011.

She was nominated in the spring by Ecaterina Stepaniuc, a fellow professor and co-adviser to the Arrow. Several colleagues and former students wrote letters of support for her nomination.

"She inspires her students, listens to them, challenges them, but above all — loves them dearly," Stepaniuc said in her nomination.

Buck plans to step down as the adviser to the student newspaper in the upcoming semester in order to focus on her role as department chairwoman.

She will be honored during an awards ceremony at the CMA/Associated Collegiate Press/Society of Professional Journalists Fall National Convention from Oct. 27 to 30 in Washington, D.C.