Hannah Gates

Growing up in the St. Louis area, Hannah was surrounded by Mizzou tiger pride, but never guessed she would end up becoming a tiger herself, especially a teacher. Hannah is majoring in Secondary Education, with an emphasis in English Language Arts. She is planning to teach English as a second language (ESL) to refugees in…

Ryan Wilson

Ryan Wilson was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to the suburbs of Mundelein, Illinois when she was 3 years old. Wilson was drawn to Mizzou because of the prestigious journalism school. She also earned the university's Diversity Award. Prior to coming to MU, Wilson had an interest in magazine writing but decided strategic communications…

Braiden Wade

Braiden Wade was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and moved to his hometown of Eudora, Arkansas shortly after. In 2007 he settled in St. Louis, Missouri and lived there until he enrolled at MU in 2020. While in St. Louis he had an interest in Interior Design, but after getting a camera in his hand…

Gehazi Whitehurst

As long as he can remember, Gehazi Whitehurst has used writing as his main tool of communication. Born and raised in St. Charles, MO, Whitehurst took up theatre and all forms of writing. In high school, he discovered his passion for storytelling through journalism. Beyond this, Whitehurst has further enhanced his communication skills by staying…

Christian McDonald

Christian McDonald, a Kansas City native, is a junior at Mizzou. McDonald is majoring in broadcast journalism with an emphasis in sports journalism. He is also working towards a minor in English. McDonald hopes to be a beat writer in a major sports city and eventually work for Fox Sports. Before attending MU, McDonald went…

Kelly Lopez

Kelly Lopez is a junior at Mizzou, studying Strategic Communications at it’s prestigious School of Journalism for a future career in Public Relations. Born in Utah, Lopez has always dreamed of a career in marketing and advertising, and spent most of her middle school and high school experience working as a Spokesperson for the Girl…

DuVonte’ Beard

At age 7, DuVonte’ Beard became an athlete. Little did he know, sports would become the center of his life and aspirations. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, the Chiefs and Royals were Beard's two favorite teams.  Growing up with an increasing interest in sports, he began to focus on pursuing a career that…

Lauren Purdy

As a member of the CASE Marketing Team, Lauren Purdy has strived toward sharing the program’s mission of supporting the academic achievement of underrepresented minority students. Born and raised in Memphis, Purdy received her high school diploma from St. George’s Independent School. She is currently a junior at MU, pursuing a Bachelor of Journalism degree,…

Keara Shannon

Keara Shannon was born in Chicago Heights, IL and lived in the neighboring town of Matteson for 13 years. She moved to Plainfield, IL in 2013 and attended Oswego East High School. Her interest in journalism started during her junior year of high school and she committed the following year after watching the film “Spotlight”.…

Becca Newton

Becca Newton is from outside of St. Louis, Missouri. She joined the CASE Marketing team in Spring 2020. Newton plays rugby for Mizzou and loves taking photos! She is a senior Journalism student with an interest in design, photography and editing. Becca has developed her love for journalism through being the editor of her high school's…