St. Bonaventure University senior Hadley Thompson will be honored as the 2024 Dr. Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise Award recipient by the Jandoli School of Communication during a ceremony March 12.

The program begins at 4 p.m. in the Robert R. Jones Room of the University Conference Center in Doyle Hall.

Thompson, from Olcott, New York, has a double major in journalism and political science, and has been involved in numerous campus media outlets.

She has reported for TAPinto Greater Olean, the Jandoli School of Communication’s hyperlocal news site, since September 2022, and has been the social media manager for Her Campus at St. Bonaventure since September 2021. She was also a radio host for WSBU-FM and news editor for The Bona Venture newspaper.

Thompson has been a student worker at the Jandoli School since the second day of her first semester at St. Bonaventure.

“It has been a genuine pleasure to get to know Hadley these past four years,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School. “She is truly full of promise and I expect her to thrive in the years ahead. Our faculty is proud to add her name to the list of remarkable Dr. Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise Award recipients.”

Beyond campus, Thompson serves as an editorial assistant at Innovation Leader in Boston, working to craft promotional newsletters, interview innovation and sustainability executives and contribute to content published on the platform. Additionally, she served as an individual contractor archivist for the Niagara Foundation.

She held an internship at the New York State Assembly in Albany from January to May 2023. She corresponded with constituents, organized legislative sessions and drafted legislation for Brooklyn Assemblyman William Colton. Thompson’s leadership roles at St. Bonaventure include as a student ambassador for the Office of Admissions and associate justice for the Student Government Association. She plans to attend law school after graduation in May.

The Woman of Promise Award is named in honor of Dr. Mary A. Hamilton, ’59, professor emerita of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure. The award is presented to a female senior who excels in and out of the classroom and sets a good example for her peers. The recipient is a student who, in the faculty’s opinion, possesses all the skills necessary to not only succeed but also thrive in her postgraduate career.

The keynote speaker at the ceremony will be alumna Evelyn Kinnah, who graduated in December 1997 with degrees in political science and journalism and mass communication. She is also a graduate of Cornell Law School and Cornell University School of Public Policy, where she obtained a joint juris doctor (JD) and master of public administration (MPA).

Kinnah served as an associate counsel in the office of Counsel to the Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly from 2005 to 2008. She later joined the law department of the city of Schenectady as an assistant corporation counsel from 2008 to 2012.

Kinnah joined Albany County in 2012 and has served in various roles including commissioner for human resources, assistant deputy county attorney and director of the Albany County Immigration Assistance Center. Kinnah has been at the immigration center since 2016.

At St. Bonaventure, she received the Mark Hellinger Award in 1998 as the top graduate in journalism and mass communication.

“Evelyn’s career shows the vast impact graduates of the Jandoli School can have on their communities,” Chimbel said. “We are excited to welcome her home to Bona’s to share her wisdom with students.”

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).