Dear Alumni and Friends,
Spring has sprung, and we have much to celebrate!
I’m delighted to share the inspiring story of a Nebraska family that gifted farmlands to support the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. The proceeds from the $4.65 million sale of the farmlands established the Deepe Family Endowed Chairs in Depth Reporting. I’ve enjoyed working with our trailblazing alumna, Beverly Deepe Keever, to ensure the gift honors the legacy of her parents, Martin and Doris Deepe, and will support journalism education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for generations.
We are also celebrating an incredible milestone for 90.3 KRNU. Our beloved campus radio station turned 50 in the middle of the pandemic. Now that we’re finally able to gather together, we’re throwing a 50th Anniversary Party on June 11 to raise money for a new tower and antenna and fund student production assistants. Order your tickets online, become a Friend of KRNU and check out our fun new KRNU merchandise. Everyone at the party will get a sneak peek at Rick Alloway’s Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame induction video!
Professor Alloway isn’t the only one being inducted in a Hall of Fame. Emeritus Professor Mary Kay Quinlan will be inducted in the Marian Andersen Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame. Professor Quinlan retired from the college in 2020, but she didn’t stay away too long. We are grateful to have her back on campus and working with our students in the Experience Lab.
We enjoyed showing off the Experience Lab last week during a visit from the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. The work our students are doing in the Experience Lab and classes is also being recognized. This newsletter includes stories about our recent awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association, National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition and Hearst Writing Competition.
Our alumni have also been racking up awards here at UNL. Wendy Guilles, 1986 graduate and president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, was honored as the 2022 CoJMC Alumni Master. Keri Mesropov, 1992 graduate and president and chief talent officer of TRG Arts, received the 2022 Women of Courage, Character, and Commitment award. Randy Hawthorne, 1992 graduate and project manager with Nelnet, was presented with an honorary Mortar Board membership at the Ivy Day ceremonies where our students were also inducted in Mortar Board and The Innocents Society.
Several of our faculty and staff received good news this month. Fred and Gladys Seaton Professor Valerie Jones was awarded a Fulbright Global Scholar Award. Gilbert and Martha Hitchcock Professor Barney McCoy won first place and an award of merit at the Eric Sevareid Awards. Jerry and Karla Huse Professor Joe Weber and professors of practice Alan Eno and Katie Krcmarik earned promotion. Alex Fernando, assistant director of recruiting, received the Board of Regents Employee Kudos Award, and Steve Blum, senior workstation support associate, received the UNL Exceptional Excellence Award.
We have incredible faculty and staff, and we are adding more! Next fall, visiting professor Shoun Hill will join us fulltime as an assistant professor of practice and the Buffett-Mangleson-Sartore Chair of Photojournalism, and Cory Armstrong will join us as associate dean for research and faculty affairs and the Lawrence L. and Ruth E. Pike Professor in Journalism.
Finally, there are several ways to get involved in the college yet this month by attending the remaining Seline Lectures, Zooming in for Knowledge on Tap with assistant professor and Pulitzer prize winning journalist Chris Graves, meeting with graduating seniors through Alumni Connections and sharing a note of congratulations to our graduates. We want you involved!
We also want to know what you are doing now and how well we prepared you for life beyond college. Please take a moment to complete our Alumni Survey. As always, if you ever want to chat about what’s happing at the college or tour our new spaces, please let me know. I love showing off what we are building here!
Go Big Red!
