SF State Alumni Awarded Journalism Department Outstanding Alumni of 2019

Alexis Terrazas speaks at the Covering the Border and Asylum Crisis from Bicultural and Bilingual Perspective Conference on April 9, 2019. Photo by Emily Curiel.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 11, 2019, San Francisco State University alumnus Alexis Terrazas (’11), is the Journalism Department Outstanding Alumni of 2019 and will be speaking at this year’s graduation at 11 a.m. on May 28 in McKenna Theatre.

El Tecolote won eight awards in the five years that Terrazas has served as editor in chief. Most recently, Terrazas won the SPJ NorCal Silver Heart Award for his work with the newspaper.

“I think that SPJ Norcal just kind of looked at all of the reporting I was doing… in addition to the work I was doing as an editor here,” Terrazas said.

Terrazas remains connected to SF State, frequently guest speaking in journalism classes and collaborating with Jon Funabiki’s Community Media class.

“One of my missions was to establish a bridge between El Tecolote and SF State’s Journalism Department because my first intro to it was through state,” Terrazas said. El Tecolote has also hosted numerous SF State students as interns.

Terrazas is humbled to receive the award and credits his success to his wife, Amanda Vergel De Dios, who is also a journalism alumnae (’10). She works and cares for their two-year-old twins during long production nights, Terrazas said.

“I credit State with a lot of what I learned. It really refined my writing, my reporting ability and I have a lot of teachers whom I have a lot of affection for there,” said Terrazas.

Terrazas recently spoke at the Border and the Asylum Crisis from a Bilingual, Bicultural Perspective Conference at San Francisco State April 9 of this year. This event consists of a panel of journalists and activists discussing their perspective on immigration.