Chris Carroll, adviser for The Vanderbilt Hustler

As a journalism education and student media professional with 21 years experience at four universities, I have had the opportunity to observe the performance of hundreds of students. Glenna is clearly among the most impressive I have encountered. She possesses an uncommon mix of intelligence, ability, initiative and reliability.

It is notable that Glenna is Vanderbilt’s first student editor to exercise complete content authority over both the print and online products. In 2006, the students created a new entity, InsideVandy.com, to serve as the centerpiece and primary delivery system for content. It was custom designed exclusively by and for Vanderbilt communities. It embraces concepts and functionality for 24-hour immediacy, multimedia storytelling, and community/user participation in content production and social networking.

Glenna clearly understands the dramatic changes occurring on the media landscape and embraces the necessity to adapt to shifting technology and audience demands. She is a remarkably quick study who seeks examples of best practices in new media and has worked to develop the new skills, techniques and strategies necessary to both work in the digital medium and to teach others. The quality of Glenna’s work is especially admirable given that Vanderbilt provides no formal journalism/mass communications academic courses.

Michael J. Schoenfeld, vice chancellor for public affairs at Vanderbilt University

Glenna is probably the best overall journalist and media leader I have worked with in my 12 years at Vanderbilt.  She inherited a very inconsistent, if not downright shoddy, newspaper and quickly instilled in the staff a sense of competence and quality that elevated the overall stature of student media at Vanderbilt.  As a reporter, she is persistent, thorough and creative.  As a writer, she effectively conveys ideas and complex issues remarkably free of jargon or stilted prose.  And as a newsroom leader, she earned the respect of both her staff, and her sources, by being tough, fair and persistent

Glenna was both a reporter and an editor during some contentious, controversial and highly visible episodes in Vanderbilt's recent history.  In every case, in every conversation, e-mail message and, ultimately, story, Glenna was the consummate professional, wise beyond her years, and not simply interested the story for the sake of the story.  Naturally, we did not always agree about the outcome, but I was always impressed that Glenna could concede mistakes when called on them -- not always easy for a student journalist -- and push back when she thought I might be crossing whatever line was drawn that day.  I consider her a friend and a colleague, and I am proud that she considers me a mentor.  If there is a better person for this honor, I would be very surprised.

Lisa Guo, former news editor for The Vanderbilt Hustler

Glenna was consistently supportive of me during my time as news editor. As a new editor, when I was still learning about many aspects of the job, Glenna helped me brainstorm and made sure I was comfortable working with the other editors. She made it clear that she expected excellence—but coached me until I was able to do an excellent job.

I also want to emphasize her dedication to the paper. While the section editors were in the office nearly every day, and often for more than 20 hours a week, I often came into the office to find Glenna already here and left before she did. When not in the office, I e-mailed her frequently. Her replies were always thoughtful, and they were often immediate, no matter what time of day or night.

Students attacked in alleged anti-gay hate crime

Source | The Vanderbilt Hustler/InsideVandy.com
An undergraduate student and a recent graduate of the Divinity School, both male, alleged that their affectionate behavior drew anti-gay comments and slurs from another undergraduate and a non-student guest as they ordered food from the Carmichael Towers West Quiznos on Sept. 9 around 10:45 p.m.

Suspect alleges suspension punishment too harsh

Source | The Vanderbilt Hustler/InsideVandy.com
The punishment the student suspect in the recent alleged anti-gay assault has received from the university does not fit his crime, he said.

VSG senate votes to eliminate experience requirement

Source | The Vanderbilt Hustler/InsideVandy.com
The average student took a step toward the Vanderbilt Student Government presidency Wednesday. The senate unanimously approved a resolution that would eliminate the experience requirement and allow any undergraduate to lead the organization.

House sends experience issue to students

Source | The Vanderbilt Hustler/InsideVandy.com
Students will get the final word in the experience requirement debate, though it took Vanderbilt Student Government house members two votes and more than an hour to give it to them.