Dear Alumni and Friends,
I'm honored to introduce myself to you as Interim Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. It is a privilege to step into this role and serve the college. My goal is to keep our college moving forward as we prepare for our next dean. With the help of our dedicated faculty, staff, alumni and industry partners, we can continue to make an impact on our students, our communities and our profession.
One way you can support the college is by participating in this year's Glow Big Red 24-hour giving day from Feb. 11-12. When the Greatest Needs Fund reaches $500, Dakarai Aarons ('06) will provide a matching gift, and Mario Scalora will give a matching gift to the Student Scholarships Fund when we reach our $2,500 goal. Once we reach 140 donors, we'll also unlock Wendy Guillies' ('86) $2,000 gift.
We're just three weeks into the spring semester and I'm excited to share our first winner of the Hearst Journalism Awards season—join me in congratulating junior broadcasting major Jackson Ingvoldstad, who placed 8th in the Multimedia Narrative Storytelling Competition. Congratulations, also, to the students in our student-run advertising agency, Jacht, Bateman Competition Team and In-Depth Reporting program who received 15 Paper Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America Nebraska chapter.
Our Jacht students developed a campaign to build support for children's social and emotional growth for UNL's TransformED initiative under the guidance of co-investigators Jemalyn Griffin and Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations Changmin Yan. Congrats to Changmin, who also led a collaboration among UNL co-authors and partner health agencies to publish a roadmap for advancing health equity.
We finished last semester with capstone students piloting a national health program for the Lymphoma Research Foundation, led by Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations Dane Kiambi. This fall, Dane also published a book that analyzes speeches by historic African leaders and was recently featured by Nebraska Today for channeling his grief into teaching.
We are proud to celebrate our 68 newest graduates who completed their degrees in December, congratulations to our students who were selected to receive scholarships from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Foundation and read how sports media student Arden Louchheim fulfilled a longtime dream in broadcasting a game with her dad at the Las Vegas Bowl.
Shoutout to this month's alumni spotlight and Minnesota's 2025 Young Journalist of the Year Mara Klecker ('16), who is the Regional Education Reporter for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and to our alumni who were contributors to the winter issue of the Nebraska Quarterly: Kevin Warneke ('85,' 12) and Tony Moton (' 98), as well as Julie Naughton (' 91) and Julia Dean (' 92), and congratulations to this month's Huskers on the Move. We also honor the legacies of alumna Barb Batie ('80) and close friend Dennis Berens, who both passed away over the holiday season.
Join us on Saturday, Feb. 28, in person at Andersen Hall or via livestream to watch our Perry Photojournalism Challenge finalists present their projects and mark your calendar for The Daily Nebraskan's 125th Anniversary Reunion next September.
I look forward to a semester of supporting our students, strengthening connections with our alumni and partners, and ensuring the college continues to adapt and lead in spaces that matter. Your engagement, whether through mentoring or hiring our graduates, attending events, or just staying connected, makes a difference. Please don't hesitate to reach out—I'd love to connect with you and discuss how we can continue this forward momentum at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Go Big Red!
Adam Wagler
Interim Dean and Professor
