Dear Alumni and Friends,
I am incredibly proud of our faculty, staff, students and community members who continue to strengthen our professional practice, advance our research enterprise and elevate student learning as we navigate a period of profound change across higher education, our university, our industries and rapidly evolving technology. Their dedication and the momentum they are creating gives me great confidence in our future.
Our vision remains steadfast: to be a national leader in experiential journalism and mass communications education. Preparing students for their future careers means giving them real-world opportunities and ensuring they build their foundational skills with the technology they’ll use in the field, and we can’t do that without you.
You may have seen our social media campaign that features alumni like Jeff Zeleny ('96), Jay Wilkinson ('88), Tony Sattler ('03), Randy Essex ('83) and Jenna Johnson ('07) sharing why they believe it's important to give now, more than ever. You'll see additional messages from other superstar alums in the coming weeks. This holiday season, consider giving to the College of Journalism and Mass Communications N Fund to support experiential learning or to the Rick Alloway Fund to strengthen the future of 90.3 KRNU.
We are thrilled to celebrate emeritus professor Charlyne Berens as the 2025 recipient of the Doc Elliott Award, a recognition that reflects her extraordinary impact as a journalist, educator and leader. We also honor Gilbert and Martha Hitchcock Professor Barney McCoy, who will retire after nearly 20 years of award-winning teaching and storytelling. Please join us in wishing Barney well in his retirement by submitting a message here.
We’re also celebrating Barney's documentary "Running Towards the Fire," which won the Sigma Delta Chi Award in the Television Documentary, Small Market Station category, from the Society of Professional Journalists. And we are proud to highlight new research from Associate Professor Betsy Emmons and Assistant Professor Brian Petrotta, which examines gaps in public relations training in sports media programs nationwide. Alum Justin Peterson ('07) looks back on a film project he helped create as a student to celebrate Johnny Carson's 100th birthday.
Senior Noah Douglas earned the prestigious Holle Award for Excellence in Sports Writing for his story "What it means to wear 42 – a Worthley family affair" and reflected on his summer internship with the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the University's new blog. Congratulations to our students who brought home seven national audio awards from the Broadcast Education Association and College Broadcasters Inc. On-Location Creative Competition and to first-year students Patrick Clark and Elaina Kratky, who received the inaugural Burleigh Writing Excellence Awards.
Real-world learning continues to be a foundational pillar here at the college, through experiences like our annual fall break trip to New York City Media Tour and our High School Basketball Media Days.
Shoutout to students Brock Anderson and Ellie Volk for competing in this year's 3-2-1 Quick Pitch competition and congratulations to Ellie, who won $500 in funding. Meet 90.3 KRNU music director and Experience Lab student lead Dalton Dailey, who has finally found an outlet for his passion for music while also growing his professional skillset.
We're proud to highlight the accomplishments of our alumni in this month's Huskers on the Move and don't forget to utilize the college's career development resources by signing up for the Career Bulletin or for a resume/cover letter review with our Career Development Specialist, Natalie Becerra.
Thank you for your ongoing support and for all the ways you represent the CoJMC spirit in your work and communities. I wish you a warm and joyful start to the holiday season and I hope to see many of you back on campus soon.
Go Big Red!
Shari
