Palvino Communication Award Honors Two Sophomores

The Department of Media and Communication at St. John Fisher College has selected sophomores Erin Dickinson and Bella McEnroe as the 2022 recipients of the Jack Palvino Excellence in Communication Award.

Given annually to two students in the department, the award recognizes undergraduates who demonstrate academic excellence and a passion for a career in communication. Recipients of the award must demonstrate a desire to pursue a career in the media and communication industries, and be a first, second, or third year student who has declared communication or media management as their major.

Dickinson is a sophomore pursuing a double major in media and communication and English, with a certificate in public and professional writing. She plans to use her education to pursue a career in journalism.  Dickinson is a staff writer for the Cardinal Courier, and will be assuming the role of editor-in-chief this coming fall. Outside of academics, she is the vice president of Sexuality and Gender Alliance and sings in Drastic Measures. A native of Potsdam, New York, she is also an avid lover of photography and digital art, having won a national silver medal in the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards in 2020. Dickinson plans to spend her summer back home in the North Country, where she will be a press relations intern for the Norwood Village Green Concert Series.

McEnroe is a sophomore media and communication major and English minor. She is a member of the women’s golf team and currently holds a work-study position within the Department of Media and Communication. She plans on continuing her education and exploring her interests within communications. After graduation, she hopes to move to Pittsburgh to pursue a career in public relations.

Established by Jack Palvino ’55, the award provides a $3,100 grant to help offset the cost of tuition. Palvino is a member of the first graduating class at St. John Fisher College, and is a member of the Trustees Emeriti Society, in recognition of his longtime service to the Board of Trustees. In the 1960s and 1970s, Palvino was Rochester’s No. 1 morning personality at top-40 formatted WBBF-AM. With his business partners, he formed The Lincoln Group, and acquired radio stations in Buffalo, Northwestern Ohio, and Rochester. Locally, his company owned WHAM, WVOR, WPXY, and WHTK, until he sold the stations to CBS/Infinity and Clear Channel Communications.