The Morgridge Center for Public Service is proud to announce its selection for the 2023 Ginsberg Family Awards for Leadership, Service and Scholarship. Erin Gretzinger has been named one of 25 campus-wide recipients of the prestigious award.
The Ginsberg Family Award recognizes students who have made outstanding leadership and service contributions to the university and the surrounding communities while maintaining an excellent academic record.
Gretzinger’s leadership and service contributions stems from her experience as a journalism student at UW–Madison. She has served in a variety of roles contributing to the dissemination of news reporting impacting the campus and Madison community. Those roles include being an investigative reporting intern for Wisconsin Watch, editor-in-chief at The Badger Herald, a city news reporter at the Wisconsin State Journal and a fellow at the Center for Journalism Ethics.
On top of the many roles that Gretzinger has served in, she has been the Morgridge Center’s communication and marketing intern since the early days of her undergraduate career.
“The Morgridge Center has taught me powerful frameworks and community-based approaches that prompted me to reimagine my role as a citizen and journalist,” says Gretzinger. “I learned so much about how to create equitable partnerships and build trust with community members — lessons that have shaped my future career in journalism.”
She has written and published feature stories and press releases about Morgridge Center activities, community partners and programs, designed the newsletter for an audience of 6,000 contacts, revamped the website and led other creative initiatives to connect community and campus.
Gretzinger produced a series of educational videos on equitable community engagement to enhance the required online course modules for student volunteers. She also launched the Morgridge Center’s podcast, GridgeFridge. Over the years, the podcast has become a well-polished and community-focused communication product that includes both talk show-style episodes and long-form narrative episodes dedicated toward elevating student and community voices.
“I’ve had the opportunity to grow with and learn from like-minded individuals dedicated to serving the campus community,” says Gretzinger. “The people at the Morgridge Center have left a lasting mark on my personal and professional life, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Upon graduation, Erin will be moving to Washington D.C. for a one-year reporting fellowship at the Chronicle of Higher Education, a national publication. She will report breaking news stories and long-form features about issues in higher education.