PROFESSIONAL STAFF | Vanderbilt Student Communications

chris carroll

Chris Carroll is the Director of Student Media for Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc., where since 1996 he has served as the corporation’s chief operational officer responsible for strategic planning, fiscal, legal and logistical operations, professional staff supervisor, and principal journalism educator and adviser. Carroll served previously as director of student media at the University of South Carolina, Tulane University, and on the journalism faculty at Arkansas Tech University. He also worked as a reporter and photojournalist at a daily newspaper in Fayetteville, Ark. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism.

For more than 30 years Carroll has been active nationally in college media and journalism education.

He is the former executive director of College Media Association, past president of College Media Advisers, past president of the Southeast Journalism Conference, a former member of the Student Press Law Center Board of Directors, founder of the Middle Tennessee Scholastic Press Association, a co-founder of the Center for Innovation in College Media, founder of the College Media Institute, and a frequent presenter, judge and consultant for media associations and schools.

He has received three national CMA advising awards (newspaper, broadcast and multimedia); the Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. Distinguished Service Award; the Gold Key from Columbia Scholastic Press Association; the Student Press Law Center Distinguished Service Award; and in 2009 he was inducted as the 27th member of the national College Media Advisers Hall of Fame.

jeff breaux

Breaux has served as Assistant Director of Student Media since January 1998. Prior to working with Vanderbilt Student Media, Breaux served as Director of Student Media and Publications at Tulane University and Art Director for Student Media at The University of South Carolina. He received a Master of Media Arts from The University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science (Advertising Design) from Northwestern State University (LA). He also owns a higher education publishing company and publishes books for several colleges & universities. He continues to work as a freelance graphic designer and served as the art director for the Grammy-winning musical group Hootie and the Blowfish (1994-96).

Breaux has served as Editor/Designer of College Media Advisers’ Best of Collegiate Design (1998-2000), Art Director for College Media Review (1999-2000), Vice President of Southern University Newspapers (2000-01), Designer of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition for the National Orientation Directors Association (1998-2018) and the College Media Association’s New York Spring Convention Publicity/Services Coordinator (2002-05 and 2012-15).

Breaux has received the following collegiate media advising honors from College Media Association (CMA): CMA Presidential Citation 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; CMA Board of Director’s Citation 2000, 2002, 2004, 2015; CMA Distinguished Four-year Business Adviser 2001; CMA Ronald E. Spielberger Service to CMA Award 2004 (first recipient of award). He was inducted as the 41st member of the College Media Association Hall of Fame in October 2020.

paige clancy

Paige joined VSC in 2005 and provides journalism education, leadership coaching, and career development counseling for students. Her work also includes marketing, project management, alumni relations, and development. She serves as secretary of the VSC Board of Directors and chair of the VSC Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

She collaborated with students and alumni in 2018 to launch a new VSC opportunity, student marketing group Anchor Marketing, and she has worked with her colleagues at VSC to create new student awards and fellowships. Paige served as convention director for College Media Association’s 2015 National Spring College Media Convention in New York City. In 2012, she served on the Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Committee on Social Media and the Internet.

Paige holds an MBA from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt with concentrations in English and Human & Organizational Development. As a student, she was managing editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler newspaper and editor-in-chief of the Commodore Yearbook. As an alum, Paige served as a member of the board of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association and as a Reunion committee member.

Early in her career, she worked as an account executive at the international public relations agencies Golin/Harris and Porter Novelli in New York. She then returned to Nashville and worked as a business reporter for The City Paper, Nashville Post, and Business Tennessee magazine. Paige has served as a freelance writer, writing coach, and consultant. She is an active volunteer leader for Nashville Public Library Foundation.

bill priestley

Bill Priestley started his media career in 1995 as the Sports Director of his campus radio station. Since then, he has worked for broadcasting entities in Tennessee, Indiana, South Carolina and North Carolina. He was the Broadcasting and Digital Media Coordinator at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC where he broadcast sports events for the school as well as created media for the athletics marketing department. He also spent time as a commercial producer for WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, TN and was a producer of “FreightWaves Now,” a 2-hour morning show dedicated to covering the freight industry which he helped double in viewership. He has won 5 Tennessee AP Broadcasting Association awards. He holds a master’s degree in education and has extensive study in the process of helping young people figure out what they want to do with their lives which culminated in creating The Dream Job Blueprint. He currently lives in Nashville with his wife Dawn and daughters Julianna and Dolly.

matt clarke

Matt Clarke works as a studio technician for Vanderbilt Student Media, offering technical support for the Vanderbilt Recording Studio, VSC podcasting studios, and audio engineering for the VandyVox podcast, and the Vanderbilt Hustler. He graduated from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami with a degree in Media Writing and Production. In addition to his role at Vanderbilt, Matt works as a freelance songwriter, producer, and engineer. His work with independent singer-songwriters Calvin Hinds and Almost June can be heard on all streaming platforms. He is also an accomplished woodwind doubler (saxophone, clarinet). In addition to music, Matt is interested in podcasting.