Chris Roberts, assistant professor for University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Jackie Alexander's case to be editor of The Daily Gamecock was so strong that she won the job over the incumbent editor, who had done a fine job.

The local daily paper routinely followed The Daily Gamecock on big stories, including a leak of sensitive student data. She handled coverage of the fiery deaths of seven University of South Carolina students with dignity -- and found herself interviewed by national media about the story -- yet still reported the harsh truths.

She could have taught parts of my reporting class, which she aced.

She knows her way around multimedia, building an online package about the retirement of South Carolina's president when news broke after the final print edition of the semester. She's a strong reporter with a nose for hard news and who writes like a dream. And they say she's a good cook, too.

Michael Baumann, former managing editor for The Daily Gamecock

As an editor, Jackie has a keen eye for detail, excellent news judgment and a perfectionist streak that makes everyone around her better.  As a reporter, Jackie is absolutely ruthless. For instance, after Carolina Cup, she went to the police station to collect the police reports of USC students who had misbehaved (of which there are always many), then stayed for two hours and went all the way to the police captain when they wouldn't release the information. That's the kind of tenacity that I wish I had as a reporter, and it's this tenacity, along with her editorial vision, that sets her apart.

Cindy Montgomery, metro editor for The Charlotte Observer

Jackie was one of our best interns. She came to work well prepared and ready to hit the streets. She paid close attention to the paper, and often suggested newsy ideas. She was smart and motivated. We could walk over, give her a story and know that we would have a story by the end of the day. She was a fine reporter, fearless and willing to ask questions until she got answers. One of her last stories was a fine 1A story about a toddler being bitten by a snake at a local park. We gave the story to her at 5 p.m. By 8 p.m., she had interviewed the mother, park officials and had written a good story that made it onto the front page easily.

Source | The Daily Gamecock
A Christian legal group has filed a complaint against the university in federal district court, alleging that the student organization funding system violates the First Amendment.

Source | The Daily Gamecock
For John Papagiannis, a whim is turning into what may be a lucrative business. The second-year marketing student posted a listing on Facebook marketplace, billing himself as a take-home chef willing to cater any dinner.

Source | The Daily Gamecock
About 30 people filed into the Student Government offices Thursday night for two Elections Commission hearings contesting the validity of the election.