Thank you all for participating in GCA’s 95th conference, held this year at The University of West Georgia. It was a great conference, and perhaps among the largest we’ve had (certainly in recent years). We had over 100 registrants connecting with 43 presentations over the two days. The Film Festival had 48 submissions! Overall, attendees represented 23 schools, and included 12 graduate and 35 undergraduate students (counting film fest students).
Everyone should be proud of their work to make GCA 2025 happen!
I want to take some time to recognize our award winners this year:
Mercer University was named Student Involvement Champion for the inaugural year of that award. We were also pleased to award Georgia State University the inaugural Most Engaged Institution award for such a strong group of submissions this year.
I also want to recognize our best work this year. Meredith Ginn and Emily Holler won the Top Presentation award for “Reflections on the First Semester of Core IMPACTS Implementation.” Lauren Lane and Davia Lassiter won the Top Student Presentation Award for “Twice as Good: Black Women and the 2024 Election.” These winners were selected based on strong and numerous reviews from conference attendees.
Our best written work deserves recognition, too. Sara Fletcher Rivera earned the Top Student Paper award this year for ‘Grave of the Fireflies: An Elegiac Masterpiece.’ Our overall Top Paper award went to Jasmine Hope Jackson for “1964 Marietta Daily Journal Coverage of Marietta High School Integration.” These awards recognize the highest reviewed full essays submitted to the conference.
Finally, I want to take a moment to recognize the tireless work of Barbara Tucker, retiring this year, and of outgoing GCA President Amy Mendes. This organization survived the pandemic because of the hard work of Barbara, Amy, and many other people. I appreciate them and I appreciate all of you.
See you in 2026!
-Steve Stuglin, GCA President