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Diane Shearer Dierks, '95 BA Communication Studies, is the author of a new novel, Back to Life. In the book, protagonist Kate Mulligan is given a chance to relive her life. After a fatal accident, she is told she can have a do-over and begin again as a child, only this time with the wisdom she learned the first time around. Intrigued and convinced she can remedy a lifetime of mistakes, Kate opts to go back to 1976, the year her 9-year-old brother drowned. Dierks, who also is the author of another novel and two non-fiction books, donated some of the royalties from this latest book to Atlanta-area food banks. She lives in Dacula, Georgia.    

Tamia Dow, '87 BA Criminal Justice, is a filmmaker who creates socially conscious films addressing community issues such as veterans, homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, sex trafficking, and child cyber stalking. Her award-winning sex trafficking awareness drama  “Why Should I Care ? “ has been screened at film festivals and for private groups. She also is a writer, director, and producer as well as a best-selling author and a professional development trainer. While at 51�ԹϺ��� she served in the Army ROTC and the Nevada National Guard. After graduation she served as a military police officer in the Army. Now, she is a director on the board of the 51�ԹϺ��� Alumni Veterans Club. From 1989 until her retirement in 2012, she was an officer in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Her last assignment was as a domestic violence detective.  

Jamie Ibanez, '18 BA Criminal Justice, has been promoted to assistant security supervisor of the D and Golden Gate casinos.

Brittany Thompson, '11 BA Communication Studies, is a script supervisor, TV production professional, and singer / songwriter who recently released her debut single in the middle of a global pandemic. She says isolation gave her the space to reconnect with her first love, music, and use her creativity and production skills to release the song independently. "Permission," is the name of the song, which she released under the name Brit Thompson. It's available everywhere music can be streamed. She began her entertainment career as the director's production assistant at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in 2012. She also maintains a travel blog called Cultures Uncovered that documents her journeys around the globe and shares resources with other female solo travelers. She lives in Los Angeles.

Brad Weiss, '00 MA Communication Studies, who uses the name Brad Carson for professional purposes, was voted as the No. 1 mid market program director in America for 2019, according to Barrett Sports Media's annual poll. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jasmine Crighton, '06 MA Journalism and Media Studies, is an assistant teaching professor in the School of Media & Communication at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio. She started at BGSU in Fall 2019 after teaching for seven years at Western Illinois University in the Broadcasting & Journalism Department. She is a two-time winner of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s Outstanding Advisor Award for College Television and recently has been recognized as a Distinguished Broadcast Adviser by the College Media Association. She also was named a “Noteworthy Journalism Educator” in 2019 by Crain’s NewsPro magazine.