Students do not get the opportunity to celebrate their fields of study very often, but when they do, it is a huge affair. Last Tuesday, more than 100 communication/journalism students teemed inside the Tuscarora Room in full-on professional attire. Professors and alumni mingled casually with current students while others talked with colleagues outside of their major concentration.
Professor Kim Garris started the “cocktail hour” off with a few words before introducing the first guest speaker, vice president of technology and library services, Rick Ruth. Ruth is a large supporter of the department, said Garris, which was evident in Ruth’s address to the students. He urged them to get involved in student media groups such as The Slate, SUTV and WSYC, which was a theme that recurred throughout the night.
Garris presented the Alumnus of the Year Award to James Hallman, who made it “big time” in Washington, D.C., not long after graduation. Like a true journalist, Hallman shared only the hard facts: students should get involved in student media, students should seek out internship opportunities and students should be using social media as a networking tool.
Hallman gave the floor back to Garris who proceeded to announce the recipients of multiple scholarships. Each one came with a short anecdote of her personal experiences with the students, and each one was followed by respectful applause from the audience.
The event wound down at about the rate that the meatballs disappeared from the snack table, but as students prepared to leave, it was not hunger that students felt, but pride. Pride in their colleagues and pride in their program.
Congratulations to the following students for receiving various awards: recipient of the Wolfrum Award, Troy Okum; recipient of the Mason scholarship, Julie Ratcliffe; recipient of the Lipper Scholarship, Tyler Baldwin; recipient of the Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties Scholarship, Jessica Richardson; and recipient of the Benjamin Nispel Award, Mary Grace Keller.
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