2026 SMPA Newsletter
Message from the Director
Dear SMPA Alumni,
Thank you to everyone who has reached out over the past year. I have heard from so many who have sent an email, dropped by for a conversation, guest lectured, helped students find internships and jobs and contributed financially to SMPA. Your ongoing commitment to our students and our community is what makes SMPA the special place that it is.
This has been another busy year in SMPA. Our classes covered everything from Plato to AI and from media history to the future of news. Last fall, we offered a course on political campaign communication co-taught by two of our alumni, one a senior Democratic consultant and the other a leading Republican strategist.
Outside of classes, we hosted events with leading scholars, political consultants of all stripes, alumni and more—including a Sesno Series conversation that ran live on CSPAN with U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), BA ‘77, Republican pollster and CNN contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson and Washington Post congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor, BA ’15, MA ’16. It’s been a very “Only in SMPA” 12 months.
This is going to be a noisy year in American politics and SMPA will be at the center of it. Our students will study and debate politics and media in classrooms, and they will intern and work in media, politics, policy and government. Our faculty will help journalists and readers make sense of the world. Our centers and institutes will explore social media and disinformation, ethics, climate communication, media and conflict, public diplomacy and much more. Our faculty, students and alumni will continue to study, shape and tell the stories that matter.
Shoot me a note or drop by next time you’re in Foggy Bottom. I’d love to hear what you’re up to, find ways to get you involved, and brag a bit more about what we’re doing that continues to make me #SMPAProud.
Best,
Director, School of Media and Public Affairs
School Spotlights
Black Women Seeing Themselves—on TV
In her new book Sacred Sisterhoods, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs Imani M. Cheers explores the evolution of Black women friendships in television and film and shows how the medium can serve as a mirror for their lives. She was featured in GW Today.
New IDDP Directors Stress Democracy, Research
As the new co-directors of the Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics, Catie Snow Bailard and Ethan Porter will lead the hub for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of digital media, technology and democracy.
Department Kudos
- Sean Aday received the SMPA Staub Faculty Excellence Award.
- Nina Gilden Seavey was named to the New York Times’ list of favorite films from the past 25 years for her documentary The Matador.
- Jason Osder and Will Youmans will screen their documentary Who Killed Alex Odeh? at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Osder was also featured on the New York Times’ list of favorite films from the past 25 years for his documentary Let the Fire Burn.
- Cheryl W. Thompson was elected to the board of directors of the National Press Foundation. She also received the 2024 Washington Association of Black Journalists Legacy Award at the 3rd annual WABJ Special Honors & Scholarship Gala.
Alumni Class Notes
Samantha Herscher, BA ’08, in 2025, launched GradFit, a boutique college and graduate school consulting firm. She provides personalized guidance for higher education admissions.
Hunter Ihrman, BA ’21, is the senior director of policy communications for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He was also elected chair of the Virginia Board of Conservation and Recreation and vice chair of the Virginia Citizens' Advisory Council on Furnishing and Interpreting the Executive Mansion. He is married to fellow GW alum Natalie (Morgan) Ihrman, BA ’21. They met in a class!
Simone Jackenthal, MA ’18, is a director at Breakwater Strategy, a strategic communications and insights agency that advises clients on how to navigate change, crises and complexities. She recently welcomed a new baby and currently lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her wife.
Heather Kerrigan, BA ’08, debut book, Beer, Brats, and Cheese: A Wisconsin Road Trip, was published by the University of Wisconsin Press. After a 2,600-mile journey, Kerrigan invites readers to shake up their next vacation with a tour through the best sources of the state’s most quintessential culinary delights.
Alexandra Larkin, BA ’12, is an assistant district attorney in the County Court Trial Bureau at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Chris Peterson, BA ’97, won an Emmy Award for his role as digital intermediate executive producer on the film The Sixth, which also won for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. Directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix and produced by Change Content and A24, the film is now available for digital rental via Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and YouTube.
Mark Schleifstein, BA ’75, was named him the 2025 recipient of the David Stolberg Meritorious Service Award by the Society of Environmental Journalists. Schleifstein also was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. (CRCL) "For more than four decades, Mark has been the voice helping Louisiana make sense of the challenges and possibilities for our coast," CRCL Executive Director Kim Reyher said. Schleifstein retired in January 2024 as an environment reporter at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans after 40 years with the paper.
Elizabeth Traynor, BA ’13, was named director of Global Basketball Communications, Jordan Brand (NIKE, Inc.).