Tom Junod, Paula Lavigne and William C. Rhoden are winners of the seventh annual Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. Junod and Lavigne win the Jenkins Medal for Best Sportswriting (of 2022) for their ESPN article "Untold". Rhoden wins for his body of work (spanning over 50 years) as an author, "Sports of the Times" columnist for The New York Times and currently as columnist and editor-at-large for Andscape (formerly The Undefeated). All will be honored at the Jenkins Medal award ceremony in Austin on October 13.

"Untold" by Junod and Lavigne, is a comprehensive recounting of survivors' experiences from their contacts with Todd Hodne, a prized Penn State football recruit who would be revealed as a serial rapist during his time on campus in the late 1970s. It's a demanding and painful story and the first meaningful mediated accounting of the survivors experiences in the aftermath of their sexual assaults albeit decades after they occurred. The story also raises fresh questions about Penn State football culture under storied coach Joe Paterno.

Said CSCM Director Dr. Michael Butterworth:

"‘Untold’ isn’t an easy story to read, and it surely wasn’t easy to write. Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne’s detailed reporting on Penn State football, sexual assault, and survival is impeccably researched and written with precision and care. It is both an infuriating indictment of our collective failure to protect innocent lives and an account of the varied paths those lives took over multiple decades. Ultimately, Junod and Lavigne challenge readers to consider our investment in sports and recognize that the line between sports serving or exploiting a community can be perilously thin. Quite simply, ‘Untold’ is remarkable piece of investigative journalism."

William "Bill" Rhoden has written his “Locker Room Talk” column for Andscape since 2016 in addition to contributing to multimedia storytelling content created by the platform. He worked at The New York Times for 34 years, 26 of them as the "Sports of The Times" columnist.

Rhoden is the author of two critically acclaimed books: Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete, and Third and A Mile: The Trials and Triumphs of The Black Quarterback. He won a Peabody Award for Broadcasting in 1996 as a writer for the HBO documentary Journey of the African American Athlete. He was also a writer on the 2008 documentary Breaking The Huddle: The Integration of College Football, which won an Emmy in 2009. He is in the Hall of Fame for both National Association of Black Journalists and National Sports Media Association.

In 2017, in collaboration with Andscape, ESPN, and the Walt Disney Company, Rhoden established the Rhoden Fellowship, a one-year program which identifies and trains aspiring African-American journalists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Rhoden, himself, received a degree in English from Morgan State University.

Said CSCM Director Dr. Michael Butterworth:

“William C. Rhoden is an award-winning writer, editor, and commentator, and he has been an authoritative voice on the racial politics of sports and the experiences of Black athletes for nearly half a century. His work has balanced a journalist’s dedication to truth with eloquence and a passion for justice. At a time when it has become increasingly clear that sports are intertwined with cultural, political, and social forces, it is appropriate to recognize the achievements of one of the definitive sports journalists of his generation. We are honored to celebrate his distinguished record and to honor William C. Rhoden with the Dan Jenkins Lifetime Achievement medal.”

The award juries for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting are co-chaired by Sally Jenkins and Michael MacCambridge. The jury for the Best Sportswriting award include members Kevin Blackistone, Kirk Bohls, Bryan Curtis, Melanie Hauser, Peter King, Jackie MacMullen, Kevin Robbins, John A. Walsh and Alexander Wolff. The jury for Lifetime Achievement in Sportswriting is comprised of Chuck Culpepper, Karen Crouse, Vahe Gregorian, Kathleen McElroy, Elizabeth Merrill, Joe Posnanski, Steve Rushin, Wright Thompson, and Seth Wickersham.

CSCM will host the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting awards dinner on October 13 at The Headliners Club in Austin. The dinner is a celebration of the sportwriting craft and experience. Additionally, two-time world heavyweight champion and renowned pitchman George Foreman will receive the 2023 Jenkins Medal Sports Legend award.