Panther editor is SC Collegiate Journalist of Year

Ty Williams designs Panther pages.

Tyuanna “Ty” Williams, editor of Claflin University’s student newspaper, The Panther, on April 12 received the South Carolina Press Association Collegiate Division’s highest individual honor, S.C. Collegiate Journalist of the Year for colleges and universities with under 5,000 enrollment.

Williams, who became the seventh Panther journalist to win the award since 2014, an unprecedented run, will be known in her senior year at Claflin as The Panther editor deciding to return to a print edition at a time when most newspapers are focused on online publication.

Her plan: Continue emphasis on the virtual but open up students’ horizons and provide a new way for the world to get student-produced Claflin news.

The result: A return of The Panther in a newsletter/newspaper format, with Williams taking the lead in producing the “print Panther” pages, seeing that they are printed and distributed, and making the print format in PDF form available via email to students, faculty, administration and alumni.

Beyond the role as editor, Williams has been active in the field, taking on assignments and reporting key stories such as a Claflin instructor being elected to Orangeburg City Council, students attending the D.C. observance of MLK’s “Dream” speech, students operating their own businesses, Claflin’s president focusing on improving Orangeburg, a pandemic expert talking vaccines and masks, and student government leaders identifying priorities.

Williams broadened her journalist horizons in 2023 by spending three months as a reporter/intern at The Times and Democrat, for which she continues to report periodically.

Her T&D work includes an FOIA project, "How transparent are state, local governments?"; stories from business to police and councils, plus topics as diverse as Juneteenth, the Civil Air Patrol, restoration of the historic bowling alley tied to the Orangeburg Massacre, honors for internationally acclaimed artist Leo Twiggs, an Orangeburg native in Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” and the decline in South Carolina’s wild turkey population.

A Claflin senior graduating in May, Williams is currently enrolled in the 4+1 program with Claflin and the University of South Carolina. The program allows her to take graduate courses toward a degree.

From Gilbert, she is a senior mass communications major, double minoring in Spanish and African American Studies. She is a member of the Alice Carson Tisdale Honors College, an NBCU scholar, a Claflin career ambassador and member of the NAACP.

Other former Claflin student journalists winning the award as S.C. journalist of the year/under 5,000 are:

2021 – Jaliah Robinson

2020 -- Marcus Hamilton

2018 – Olanma Hazel Mang

2017 – Bradley Harris

2015 – Andres Waters

2014 – Princess Williams

The Panther was presented other awards by SCPA on Friday:

• Ty Williams, second place, General Excellence, for The Panther's September, October and November print editions.
• Damaia Davis, Panther editor for the 2024-25 year, second place, Photograph, for her image of Keith Shoates, chief operation officer of Student Freedom Initiative, speaking during a forum at Claflin. Damaia is from Ladson.
• Ty Williams, third place, Photograph, for her image of journalist and commentator Roland Martin speaking with Claflin students. He was at Claflin as part of the Hilltop Lecture Series for Black History Month in 2023.

The SCPA Collegiate Division meeting during which the awards were presented was held at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.

Award winners Ty Williams, left, and Damaia Davis with Panther adviser Lee Harter at the SCPA Collegiate Division meeting at Winthrop University on April 12, 2024.

Keith Shoates, chief operation officer of Student Freedom Initiative, speaks during a forum at Claflin University in November 2023. Damaia Davis’ photograph earned second place for Photograph in the S.C. Press Association’s Collegiate Division journalistic excellence contest for 2023.

Journalist and commentator Roland Martin speaks with Claflin University students in February 2023. He was at Claflin as part of the Hilltop Lecture Series for Black History Month. Ty Williams’ image earned third place for Photograph in the S.C. Press Association’s Collegiate Division journalistic excellence contest for 2023.