First Amendment Awards and Event
At our annual First Amendment Award Event, we honor New Hampshire individuals or groups that stand out in their defense of or use of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
This year’s event is 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 23, at the NH Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College.
Sean Young is the 2025 honoree for the First Amendment Award. Young, owner of Leavitt’s Bakery in Conway, was nominated for his pursuit of First Amendment rights in a lawsuit filed over a student-painted mural on the bakery. A judge ruled in Young’s favor earlier this year.
Melanie Plenda, director of the Granite State News Collaborative, is receiving the School’s Quill & Ink Award. This award, which is not given every year, is reserved to honor those who have made significant contributions to the education of Granite Staters about the First Amendment.
Our Keynote Speaker is Jake Sullivan, who served as U.S. National Security Advisor under President Joe Biden, himself a past Loeb School speaker. He was director of policy under President Barack Obama before serving then-Vice President Biden in a national security role. A graduate of Yale Law, Sullivan is a faculty member of Harvard Kennedy School and resides in Concord with his wife, U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander.
Past First Amendment Award Honorees
The First Amendment Award from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications honors New Hampshire individuals or groups who stand out in their defense of or their use of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
2024 The Rochester Voice
2024 Arlene Quaratiello
2023 Laurie Ortolano
2022 Gilles Bissonnette
2021 Tara Gunnigle and Jon Pearson
2020 Marianne Salcetti, PhD
2019 Dr. William ‘Ed’ Kois
2018 Robert Azzi
2017 Right to Know NH and David Saad
2016 Donna Green and David Pearl
2015 John Connors
2014 James Foley
2013 The Nashua Telegraph
2012 David Lang and Professional Fire Fighters of NH
2011 The Portsmouth Herald and Howard Altschiller
2010 Gail Pierson Cromwell
2009 William Chapman, Esq.
2008 Mary Lukas DeWinkeleer
2007 David Scott
2006 Laconia Citizen and John Howe
2005 Daniel Hughes
2004 Thomas Kearney
2003 Philip McLaughlin, Esq.
Past Quill and Ink Recipients
The Quill and Ink Award from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications is not given every year and is reserved to honor significant contributions to the education of Granite Staters about the First Amendment.
2024 The Clock at Plymouth State University
2022 New Hampshire Public Radio
2019 David Tirrell-Wysocki
2017 Gregory V. Sullivan, Esq.
2016 Claire Ebel and ACLU NH
2015 Judge James Carroll
2012 Debi Clark Valentine
2009 Robert Foster
2008 Mike Pride
The Loeb Eagle
Nackey Loeb communicated through her art as well as her pen and was an accomplished painter and sculptor. She created the original eagle, and it greeted guests at the front door of her home. Her daughters Nackey Scagliotti and the late Edith Tomasko commissioned a replica as a fitting remembrance of their mom and her patriotism.
First Amendment Award recipients receive an eagle sculpture inspired by Mrs. Loeb’s original piece and a $1,500 award.