Riverside High School Alum Nominated for College Television Award

Riverside High School alumna Mair Famet has been nominated by the Television Academy Foundation for the 44th College Television Awards. The Foundation’s annual awards show recognizes and rewards excellence in student-produced programs from colleges across the country. Winners in the competition will be announced by television stars at the red carpet awards ceremony on April 5, 2025, at the Television Academy in North Hollywood, California. Designed to emulate the Emmy Awards, student entries are judged by Television Academy members. Criteria for the College Television Awards reflect industry standards of excellence, imagination and innovation.

Famet, along with eleven classmates at UNC Chapel Hill, is nominated in the News category for a project titled, Deadly Shooting on Campus: The Facts. The Failures. The Future. — a special edition of Carolina Week, UNC's award-winning student-produced television newscast. On Aug. 28, 2023, Associate Professor Zijie Yan was fatally shot in a science building on UNC’s campus. In the report, students covered firsthand accounts; the aftermath of the shooting; and what it means for students, faculty, families and the Chapel Hill community at large. Famet served as a writer on the project.

“After being caught in the university-wide lockdown in a building with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on campus I wondered how the event I experienced translated into the broader Chapel Hill community,” said Famet. “After speaking to multiple sources about their experiences, it broadened my perspective and drove me to ask more detailed questions to officials.”

From Durham, North Carolina, Famet attended Riverside High School in Durham. She is a 2024 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill who majored in media and journalism.

“I am a first-generation college graduate with immigrant parents. My family faced many obstacles to obtain the American Dream in what was once a foreign land, including financial hardships,” said Famet. “In my sophomore year of college, I lost my father — the breadwinner of my family — to Stage 4 colon cancer. These experiences shaped me into the person and creative I am today. I overcame constant obstacles and graduated with a degree from one of the top public universities in the country.

“It is an honor to be nominated for a College Television Award,” continued Famet. “It gives me faith that my dreams are more attainable than ever imagined.”