By ASHLEY ANDERSON
J Alumni News staff
It’s time for journalism students and alumni to remember their manners.
Shake Harold and Marian Andersen’s hands and say “thank you.”
The Andersens, longtime supporters of the University of Nebraska and journalism, attracted more than $1.9 million in donations to help the NU Foundation purchase the Security Mutual Life Insurance building at 200 N. Centennial Mall. The building, now named Harold and Marian Andersen Hall, is the College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ new home.
Dean Will Norton Jr. said the Andersens’ civic involvement and commitment to the university and the college made them worthy of the honor.
“As a Nebraska graduate, to have a building named after you is spectacular,” Norton said, listing notable graduates such as Willa Cather and Mari Sandoz, who also have campus buildings named in their honor.
The Andersens, who both graduated Phi Beta Kappa, continued serving NU long after they graduated. Harold became a trustee of the NU Foundation in 1962, and Marian joined the foundation in 1974, following the footsteps of her father, C. Wheaton Battey, one of the foundation’s first trustees. In 1984, Marian became the first woman chairman of the NU Foundation’s Board of Directors. Harold was elected chairman seven years later. The Andersens are the only husband and wife to have held the position.
The couple also led Campaign Nebraska, an organization dedicated to raising money for university projects. Campaign Nebraska was responsible for raising money to purchase Andersen Hall.
Marian Andersen said she and Harold enjoyed raising money for all university projects, but the journalism building held a special place in their hearts. Marian is a School of Journalism alumna, and Harold Andersen is a former publisher of the Omaha World-Herald.
Harold Andersen began his journalism career as a reporter for the Lincoln Star before moving to the World-Herald for a 13-year reporting stint. He also was an editor and manager before becoming publisher in 1966.
He retired in 1989 but still writes columns for the World-Herald about politics and local issues.
“I have an advanced degree in flunking Retirement 101,” Harold said.
In an e-mail to Norton, former World-Herald executive editor Woody Howe said Harold Andersen was “proudest of what he did in Nebraska while leading the World-Herald to its highest Sunday circulation, steady profitability and majority ownership by its managers and other employees.”
Andersen and the World-Herald also took a prominent leadership position in the 1976 Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart case.
The case involved a murder trial in western Nebraska. In 1975, Erwin Charles Simants murdered six members of the Henry Kellie family in Sutherland. Because it was such a high-profile case, county and district court judges were concerned that media coverage would become sensational and Simants wouldn’t get a fair trial.
To complicate matters, the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned convictions in several high-profile criminal cases during the 1960s because the defendants had received bad publicity. County and district judges wondered if the same thing could happen in the Simants ruling.
Nebraska law offered limited options to stop press coverage, so finding an impartial jury could have been difficult. Judges knew that moving the trial to a different county would offer the plaintiff little protection because the case was such big news.
The defense counsel and the prosecution at Simants’ preliminary hearing asked the judge to ban reporting of certain facts disclosed in open court. Judge Ronald Ruff of Lincoln County granted the request.
District Court Judge Hugh Stuart modified the gag order but reaffirmed the ban on publishing or broadcasting Simants’ alleged confessions or other facts portraying him as the murderer until a jury was gathered.
The Nebraska Press Association, the National Broadcasters Association, Media of Nebraska and several newspapers — including the World-Herald — balked at the order. The organizations claimed the order forced prior restraint and violated the media’s First Amendment rights. Members took the case to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which mostly upheld Stuart’s order.
When Andersen became aware of Ruff’s ruling, he knew immediately that the press of Nebraska needed to appeal the case and not fear the higher court’s ruling.
“After the Nebraska ruling, the sentiment was that we’d rather suffer here than risk spreading bad law across the country if it were pushed through the (U.S.) Supreme Court,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in the NPA’s favor.
Andersen said the World-Herald played “mostly a financial role” in supporting the NPA, but it did so because he and other journalists believed in the cause.
“It became clear that this was a case that would be a bad precedent for the state of Nebraska and could become infectious in other states,” he said.
The Andersens’ willingness to contribute to journalism and civic organizations inspired Marian Andersen’s brother, Charles Battey and his wife, JoAn, to make a donation for the new building in the Andersens’ honor.
“Harold did a marvelous job of managing the World-Herald, and he’s well-known and respected nationally and worldwide,” Charles Battey said.
In addition to his publishing responsibilities, Harold Andersen served on boards of the National Newspaper Association, the World Association of Newspapers and the Associated Press. He was founder of the World Press Freedom Committee.
Marian Andersen has served on local and international boards for the Public Broadcasting System and the American Red Cross. She was chairwoman of the search committee that hired Elizabeth Dole to head the American Red Cross, Battey said.
NU graduates Vinod Gupta of Omaha and Dale Jensen of Phoenix also made contributions in honor of the Andersens. Harold Andersen said Gupta and Jensen are close friends of the couple and generous supporters of NU Foundation projects.
“It’s heartwarming to have friends who support the university and a cause that means so much to me and Marian,” Harold Andersen said.