Sixteen Matousek Scholars were selected to lead the college's Experience Lab for the spring 2025 semester.
Matousek Scholars serve as the student leaders of the Experience Lab and coordinate day-to-day operations under faculty guidance. The experiential learning program allows students to gain hands-on experience from their first day at Andersen Hall.
Mark Matousek ('77) and his wife Chris established the Matousek Family Student Experience Fund with the Nebraska Foundation to support experiential learning at the college. The fund provides scholarships to Experience Lab student leaders each semester and is integral to the success of the program.
The Experience Lab co-directors are Jill Martin and Kristian Anderson. This is Anderson’s first semester as co-director. Nearly 530 students are participating in the spring 2025 Experience Lab, making this semester the highest enrollment yet.
Students work with faculty and professional mentors to build their academic skill sets while exploring their professional interests in one of the college’s media outlets: Buoy, Heartland Pulse, 90.3 KRNU, Nebraska News Service, Nebraska Nightly, Production House and Unlimited Sports.
Through these unique programs, students create content and manage projects for community organizations, news outlets and other media platforms.
The following is a list of student leads for spring 2025, listed alphabetically by Experience Lab program, with their major(s) and hometown:
Buoy
- Saeje Haselhorst: advertising and public relations, Lincoln
- Hannah Kwapnioski: advertising and public relations, Columbus
- Macy Petersen: advertising and public relations, Omaha
Heartland Pulse
- Robert Coleman: advertising and public relations, journalism, California, Maryland
- Truman Kloehn: sports media and communication, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
90.3 KRNU
- Dalton Dailey: broadcasting, advertising and public relations, Lincoln
- Paige Waite: advertising and public relations, Lincoln
Nebraska News Service
- Josie Golka: advertising and public relations, Omaha
- Owen Reimer: secondary english education, Bellevue
Nebraska Nightly
- Logan Eby: broadcasting, Newbury Park, California
- Harmon Johnsen: broadcasting, sports media and communication, Sutherland
Production House
- Madalyn Backes: advertising and public relations, Omaha
- Reilley Barish: sports media and communication, advertising and public relations, Marion, Iowa
Unlimited Sports
- Emma Baumgart: sports media and communication, broadcasting, Adel, Iowa
- Noah Douglas: sports media and communication, journalism, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
- Dylan Jurgens: sports media and communication, Lincoln
The Matousek family are long time supporters of the college. In one of the early renovations of Andersen Hall, they supported the college by donating additional funds separate from their scholarship so that the building could have new furniture. They also have another fund established with the Foundation, the Matousek Family Scholarship Fund.
Mark found his passion for communications while attending the J School and it’s his hope that students will discover that same passion.
