Two Chosen for Excellence in Communication Award

The Department of Media and Communication at St. John Fisher University has selected Brooke Eastman and Ashley Shortino as the 2023 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.

Eastman is a sophomore media and communication major and women and gender studies minor at Fisher. She has served as a staff writer of the Cardinal Courier and was recently elected as the managing editor for the 2023-2024 academic year. She strongly values the importance of media, the spread of accurate information, and the art of words. She hopes to continue in the field with a career in activist writing. 

Shortino is a junior from Spencerport, New York, majoring in media and communication and minoring in film and television studies. With an eye for detail, Shortino has taken various production courses, demonstrating professional skills as a cinematographer and editor. She has already established herself as a significant presence on TikTok, with likes in the hundreds of thousands. After graduation, she intends to pursue a career in either film production or social media management, utilizing the skills and knowledge accumulated throughout her academic career to make a meaningful impact in the industry.

Established by Jack Palvino ’55, the award provides a $3,100 grant to help offset the cost of tuition. Palvino is a member of Fisher’s first graduating class, 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.