Fall 2024 Alumni Kudos

We are always very proud of our alums and their achievements. This semester, they have been featured in articles, won awards, published books, and spoken at conferences. Here are a few highlights:

• The Baylor Line highlighted Professor Emeritus Bob Darden in the feature “Shaping Minds to Sharing Stories: A Professor’s New Journey.” After decades of teaching, Baylor’s most awarded professor began a new chapter as a monthly columnist for Baylor Line. Read more here. 
• Baylor JPR&NM Graduate Tiffanie Blackmon-Jones is the 2024 Mrs. Barbara Walker Distinguished Black Alum. Baylor also recognized  Blackmon as a member of Baylor’s 2005 national champions, the first women’s team to win a title in Baylor history.
• Alum Alexandra Leatu was named the interim head coach of men’s tennis at Queens University of Charlotte. She will continue as head coach of the women’s tennis team at Queens University.
• Former student Drake Toll (pictured above) presented the keynote address at the 2024 American Studies Association of Texas conference. He discussed his six years of experience in sports media as an award-winning podcaster, play-by-play broadcaster, studio host, and writer.
• Claire St. Amant, the Lillian and Rupert Radford Endowed Visiting Professor of Journalism, taught a podcast media course. St. Amant recently received the first copies of her book, “Killer Story: The Truth Behind True Crime Journalism.” She is a Baylor’s Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media program graduate and a former “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes” reporter.

We are excited to welcome three new board members who are active in the community and corporate America. The alumni are eager to help share their ideas for improving our department.

Jill Petri is a senior vice president at Frost Bank. In her current role as the Fair and Responsible Banking Commercial Development Manager, she works with commercial and credit leadership to develop programs and facilitate re-engineering processes that support Frost Bank’s mission of improving all people’s lives in all the communities It serves. Petri began her career at Frost in 1994 and has worked in several areas, including marketing, staff development, research, and strategy. Petri graduated from Baylor University in 1990 with a B.A. in Journalism. A former newspaper reporter at the Waco Tribune-Herald, she continues to write for online publications about parenting and life as the wife of a high school coach. She also writes a weekly newsletter on her Substack, “Fourth Part of the Day.”

Amber White Tierce has over 25 years of public affairs experience, leading industry-recognized communications, advocacy, and marketing campaigns while empowering and mentoring high-performing teams. In her current role, she advances Chevron’s presence in the Greater Houston area through local government/business engagement, sports partnerships, social investment, and communications. Throughout her career at Chevron, Tierce has held various positions in regulatory advocacy, issues management, and strategic communications. Before joining Chevron, she served as Vice President at Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, leading communications and sports marketing campaigns for top brands and Fortune 100 companies.

Caroline Yablon is a social media strategist, storyteller, and content creator based in Dallas. She graduated from Baylor University in 2020 with a B.A. in Journalism, concentrating in Public Relations and minoring in Marketing. She was a reporter and copy editor for the Baylor Lariat in college. One of her favorite stories covered the life of Jess Cagle, former editor-in-chief of People Magazine and a Baylor alumnus. Additionally, she gained hands-on experience as an editorial and social media intern for the Wacoan Magazine.