Smurthwaite garners communication awards at SUU
Former Eagle editor and part-time staff member of USU Eastern athletics office, KC Smurthwaite was recognized by Southern Utah University for his academic achievement in communications last week.
Smurthwaite, who will be graduating magna cum laude from SUU in May, graduated from USU Eastern in 2012 where he was named outstanding journalism student and served as editor of The Eagle plus he won numerous awards at the Utah Press Association for his sports coverage and columns.
Former Eagle editor and part-time staff member of USU Eastern athletics office, KC Smurthwaite was recognized by Southern Utah University for his academic achievement in communications last week.
Smurthwaite, who will be graduating magna cum laude from SUU in May, graduated from USU Eastern in 2012 where he was named outstanding journalism student and served as editor of The Eagle plus he won numerous awards at the Utah Press Association for his sports coverage and columns.
He was honored with the silver voice award by KSUU, the flagship station of SUU athletics. For the past year he has served as the sports director working in conjunction with KSUU and the sports information staff.
During his time at SUU, he served as the play-by-play commentator for SUU women’s basketball, softball and at times, called men’s basketball games. He was also the play-by-play commentator for the radio station’s high school game of the week.
Smurthwaite said that although he did not take any radio classes at USU Eastern, he gained the experience needed that Price and USU Eastern had to offer.
“I didn’t take any classes from Troy [Hunt] but got all the radio experience I needed through Jordan Buscarini,” said Smurthwaite. “Jordan gave me the foundation I needed in radio. I couldn’t get that experience in a classroom. Without the flexibility of USU Eastern I wouldn’t have been able to get that experience with him.”
He doubled as a play-by-play commentator for SUTV and BigSkyTv.org for athletic contests. He also received recognition at an academic banquet for his work at the college’s news station, SUTV.
Cal Rollins, KSUU station manager said that Smurthwaite inspired others he worked with and was persistent with helping the station move forward.
“KC has been a role model,” said Rollins. “His ability to inspire others to come together as a team has made KSUU better. In class there are a dozen sportscasters and a dozen DJ’s, this is perhaps the largest sports department I have ever had.”
Smurthwaite added that the best experiences he had in his collegiate coursework was when the classroom was not the workplace.
“At both USU Eastern and SUU your classroom isn’t where your learn,” said Smurthwaite. “Both institutions got students up and out of the classroom and put us in situations where we were held accountable to real businesses and people–that is when learning happens.”
