We Met U When Receives International Recognition

The We Met U When (external link) …podcast, created by assistant professor Shari Okeke and produced by final year journalism students is gaining attention internationally, winning multiple awards in the U.S.

Season 4, episode 3 (external link) , “Maybe I Can’t Do This?” produced by Mariela Torroba Hennigen (external link)  won a 2026 Gracie Award from The Alliance for Women in Media (external link)  for the student digital media category of Podcast Host. The Gracies recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. Other 2026 Gracie Award winners include CBC’s radio program Ontario Today, The Oprah Podcast, Tina Knowles and Monica Lewinsky.

“When I first read the email in my inbox, I couldn’t believe it. And then I read again. And yet again. And I still couldn’t believe it,” Hennigen wrote in an instagram post about receiving the award. Her episode covers gender-based harassment of women journalists and her reflections on becoming a journalist at this time.

This is the third international award for the class podcast. Season 4, episode 1 (external link) , “Schooled by Sekou” won second place in the narrative audio category at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts. (external link) 

Kymane Fermely (external link)  is a fourth-year journalism student who co-produced the episode alongside Cindy Zogu and Praise Ditep.

“When I first heard the news, I felt incredibly proud. ‘Schooled by Sekou’ was an episode that meant a lot to me as a Black journalist. Working on a story that explored how journalists approach Black institutions, Black children and Black parents was both fascinating and at times, deeply frustrating. I was so happy that our work, and most importantly Sekou’s story, resonated with people beyond our classroom,” she said.

For Fermely, receiving the award in her final-year of Journalism was meaningful.

“Receiving recognition from an institution like the BEA in my final year as a journalism student feels like the concretization of what I have been working toward over the past four years,” Fermely said. “Knowing that an episode I scripted and narrated won second place in the narrative audio category means the world to me.”

“I was thrilled but I wasn't surprised,” said Kristian Cuaresma, (external link)  fourth-year Journalism student who, with James Bunga and Jaden Whitelaw, co-produced episode 2 of Season 4, “The Art of Moises (external link) .” “I had a front row seat to the production and development of [Schooled by Sekou]. I witnessed how hard those producers worked to tell the best possible story. When I saw the news, I couldn't help but feel proud of their accomplishment.”

“I’ll never forget when our whole class listened to one particular clip of the episode Schooled By Sekou, where his mother laughed as she proudly remembered a young Sekou descending the stairs of their home, dressed in a full suit and draped in a sheet like a cape for his family rites of passage,” Henkel said. “Everyone in that room broke into smiles; that clip painted the picture so well and made the themes of family, community, and agency in telling your own story really hit home,” she added.

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is the only Canadian school to win in the BEA festival’s student narrative audio category this year. Season 3, episode 5 (external link) , “The Call” received an Award of Excellence in the same category last year

Season 3 (external link)  was also recently recognized with a national award in Canada when it won Silver for Best Podcast - Academic at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards (external link)  (COPA). The category was open to all academic podcasts — not only those produced by students.

“[We Met U When..] exemplifies the critical need to shift journalistic practice and work toward repairing histories and ongoing realities of harm enacted by journalistic institutions, and the care we must prioritize behind the scenes,” said fourth-year Journalism student Grace Henkel. (external link) 

Henkel co-produced Season 4 Episode 5 “A Journey, Not a Destination” with Mariam Kourabi and Sarah Bauly. That episode and two bonus episodes are expected to be published this spring.

“Working as a co-producer on season four has been a wild ride; so tough and vulnerable at times, and incredibly rewarding,” Henkel said.

She said the experience taught her the importance of vulnerability and accountability in journalism.

She said, “Asking for a person’s time and energy—whether you’re interviewing them or receiving their advice—means asking for a considerable amount of labour. It’s your responsibility to honour that labour by committing to thoughtful storytelling and reflecting on your practice.”