News Brief

The Rider News would like to congratulate Dr. Thomas Simonet, professor of communication and journalism, and Dr. E Graham McKinley, professor of communication and journalism, on their years of distinguished service to the newspaper. Both advisers have stepped down from their advising roles as of Sept. 21.

Dr. Jackie Incollingo, assistant professor of communication and journalism, will assume the advising role for the paper moving forward.

Simonet served the paper for 16 years while McKinley served for 18 years. Both were devoted student advocates and trusted advisers through the duration of their time spent at the newspaper.

Simonet said that the multiple Rider News staffs he has worked with over the years have won countless awards they should be proud of.

“We have been blessed with awesome staffs,” said Simonet. “Last year, students won 11 state and regional honors. That included first place for general excellence and among New Jersey’s four-year colleges and universities — an award Rider also won in 2013. Plus in the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) contest, editors and writers won five awards, a school record. That’s significant because the SPJ competition comes from a nine-state region including all of the Ivies and some of the most elite liberal arts colleges in the nation.”

McKinley said the newspaper is lucky to have Incollingo step into the advising role.

“It’s been a great pleasure to work with The Rider News all these years, and the students have been wonderful,” said McKinley. “And the future looks bright with Dr. Incollingo as the adviser. We in the department are fortunate to have her as a colleague, and The News will benefit from her many years of journalism experience, including a stint at her own college paper when she was a student. I wish you all the best!”