Whitireia graduates celebrate success

Whitireia graduates celebrate success

Whitireia journalism, radio, and film and television students graduated yesterday in a ceremony held at the Whitireia Performance Centre in Wellington.

Graduates from the National Certificate in Radio, Diploma in Radio Journalism, Certificate in Multimedia Journalism, National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media), and Certificate in Introduction to Film and Television Production received their certificates from Whitireia Arts Faculty Associate Dean Pip Byrne, in front of a packed room of family, friends and academic staff.

National Certificate in Radio graduand Joseph Perrone also received the Graeme Wilson Memorial Prize, while Diploma in Radio Journalism graduands Connor Ruston and Elizabeth Immelman received the Graeme Wilson Memorial Scholarship and John Foy Memorial Scholarship respectively.

Whitireia Programme Manager Bernie Whelan noted that this year’s graduating journalism class was particularly strong. Whelan’s sentiment was echoed by National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media) graduand Matthew Lau. Lau said the class was a driven and hard-working group that set high standards for itself.

“This ethos filtered down from the tutors,” said Lau, “and we really embraced it.”

Whelan added that the strength of the class was best illustrated by the fact that 80 percent of the graduands had gone straight into journalism jobs.

“This includes a number of digital media roles,” said Whelan, “which goes to show that the Whitireia journalism programme is equipping students with the industry-relevant skills to be successful in the digital age.”

As part of the graduation festivities, the Certificate in Introduction to Film and Television Production graduands, known as ‘Crew 29’, premiered two short films they created during their studies. The premieres are an annual graduation fixture and were held this year at Wellington’s Paramount Theatre.

The films, ‘Suck It Up’ and ‘Pound’, were very well received by the near-capacity audience. Wellington personality Jack Yan said they were “incredibly well-made” and congratulated Crew 29 on their fantastic work.

Film School tutors Sima Urale and Jonathan King spoke of their pride in Crew 29, particularly the way in which such a diverse group of students had collaborated so effectively to produce two pieces of quality work.

ENDS

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