HOLLYWOOD – The HSUS Hollywood Office today announced that Melville native and Carnegie Mellon student Michael Croland has won the second Genesis Student Award for a powerful series of articles highlighting the abuse of animals used for food. The Annual Genesis Awards honors the news and entertainment media for their positive coverage of animal-protection issues.
The Genesis Student Award is designed to encourage the next generation of journalists and filmmakers. It is given for articles, films or videos created by students for distribution through student media outlets or local access television. Croland will receive his award at the star-studded Nineteenth Annual Genesis Awards gala on Saturday, March 19th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA. The show is taped and edited for a two-hour Television Special, airing on Animal Planet on Saturday, May 14th at 8.00 p.m.
"Animals on factory farms are crammed into cruel, torturous conditions, so I feel compelled to use my writing as their voice," says Croland. "I've been a vegetarian since age 15 and a writer my entire life, so it's perfect when I can defend farm animals, some of the most abused creatures on the planet."
"In any area of activism it is important to nurture the next generation," says Gretchen Wyler, vice president of the HSUS Hollywood Office. "Since the Genesis Awards are all about recognizing the major news and entertainment media for raising public awareness of animal issues, it makes sense for us to foster future writers and news producers, especially at a time when different, independent voices need to be heard in our corporate-run media."
Croland's work was selected from many excellent submissions from students all over the country, according to Wyler. "There is a growing movement of students who are working for a more humane and compassionate world for animals, as exemplified by Michael whose articles demonstrate an amazing knowledge of critical animal issues and a distinct point of view. No wonder he has already succeeded in breaking out of student media and into the mainstream with major newspapers like Newsday."
Croland is a senior at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, pursuing a major in professional writing and a minor in religious studies. He taught an Animal Rights course through Carnegie Mellon's Student College program last semester and is president of the school's chapter of Voices for Animals. He is winning the Genesis Student Award for a total of five articles published in Carnegie Mellon's The Tartan, The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, and Newsday.
Film and TV celebrities lending their support as presenters at this year's Genesis Awards are, among others: Ed Asner, Linda Blair, Stockard Channing, James Cromwell, Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson, Will Estes, Bill Maher, Wendie Malick, Joe Mantegna, Cheri Oteri, Carl Reiner, Eric Roberts, Nicollette Sheridan, Alicia Silverstone, Sela Ward, Persia White and Debra Wilson.
The Nineteenth Genesis Awards are made possible in part by our corporate benefactors: BoDog.com, MassMutual Financial Group, Michel Financial Group, Porsche Cars North America, Southwest Airlines and Urban Decay Cosmetics.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 8.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research and farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
