Miller School to celebrate Centennial in September

From Linotype to Twitter and from FM radio to the World Wide Web, journalism education at K-State has lived through it all.

Posing with the Kansas House resolution, congratulating the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications on its centennial: Rep. Tom Hawk, Democrat from the 67th District; Steven Smethers, associate professor; Rep. Mike Burgess, Republican from the 51st District and 1998 graduate of the Miller School; Gloria Freeland, assistant professor; and Rep. Sydney Carlin, Democrat from the 66th District. The Kansas Senate passed a similar resolution, sponsored by Sen. Roger Reitz, Manhattan.

In 1910, Kansas State Agricultural College established a department of industrial journalism – one of the first of its kind in the country. Printing merged with industrial journalism in 1915, and in 1950, the program was renamed the Department of Technical Journalism.

In 1971, mass communications was added to the name to account for new media and a broader curriculum. In 1988, the school was renamed as the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications to honor a Kansas newspaperman with deep ties to the school.

In September – 100 years after its founding – the Miller School is planning a party.

Gloria Freeland (’75), associate professor in mass communications and centennial coordinator, said the theme for this fall’s celebration is “Preserving the past, preparing for the future.”

“The idea for our centennial is that we’re going to find out about our history,” Freeland said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for students to know where we came from and to know our legacy, but then we’re also trying to prepare students for the future.”

Freeland, along with students, other faculty and staff members and alumni, began working on the centennial last summer. Freeland is also working with the Alumni Association, the KSU Foundation and University Archives.

The festivities are scheduled to kick off Sept. 2 with a Huck Boyd Lecture in Community Media, given by Gail Pennybacker (’81), from WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. Other events planned over the three-day celebration include activities in Aggieville Thursday night, a banquet and program Friday evening and a tailgate at Saturday’s K-State vs. UCLA football game.

Steve Wolgast develops a photo during the 1987-88 school year. Wolgast is now an instructor and faculty adviser to the Collegian.

Alumni will also have the opportunity to connect with current students in the classroom and through various workshops.

“To see our current students and our former students all together in a setting where there’s going to be so much networking going on,” said Angela Powers, director of the Miller School. “I’m excited about that.”

Students are also helping prepare for the centennial. Freeland said members of the public relations techniques class are handling the social media aspects of the celebration, and faculty members Ginger Loggins and Stacy Neumann are guiding students in creating a DVD to be shown and distributed at the banquet.

Anna Lewis, senior in public relations and electronic journalism, and the executive producer of the DVD has worked with Freeland on the official centennial logo, save-the-date information card, a Web site and other promotional materials.

Part of the centennial effort will include a fundraising campaign called Tools for Tomorrow. According to Powers, money raised by the effort will go toward providing up-to-date equipment for students and classrooms.

“Our goal is to raise $100,000 for 100 years, so we can have an account that we can rely on for technology in our classrooms,” Powers said. “We want to engage as many alumni as we possibly can to secure a good, solid future for our school and for our students.”

Powers said money can be raised in a variety of ways. In addition to general donations, a silent auction, scheduled for the Sept. 3 banquet, will feature K-State memorabilia, autographed photos and books and other items.

Lewis, whose grandfather and two uncles are Miller School graduates, said working on the centennial has been an eye-opening experience. She said she now understands why many generations of families, like her own, return to the school.

“The people who are involved with the school, now or in the past, have only good

things to say about it. They don’t credit the facilities or the top-of-the-line equipment, they credit the people they work with every day,” Lewis said. “The faculty is very dedicated to being a significant part of each student’s college career.”

Todd Simon, professor and former director of the Miller School from 1997-2004, echoed Lewis’ sentiments. He said the size of the school allows for close relationships between teachers and students.

“My favorite thing about this place is that it remains — despite changes in technology — a place where there’s a lot of interaction,” Simon said. “Students and faculty get to know each other on a first-name basis.”

And while Simon admits he has no idea what the future holds, he said he is confident the Miller School will remain committed to its core principles.

A student pauses to read the Collegian in the spring of 1978. The first edition of the paper was published in 1896, then named The Student Herald.

“While other [journalism programs] have more money and might be considered more prestigious, we’ve been very consistent in our mission for 100 years. We remain really committed to our story-telling roots,” Simon said. “I don’t really see that changing.”

The media themselves, however, are constantly changing, and curriculum changes are inevitable. But, as Powers pointed out, the Miller School has been successful in weathering changes in the past.

“It says a lot about the fact that we value journalism and First Amendment issues that we’ve survived for a century. That’s not an easy thing to do. There are many programs that have come and gone and been swallowed up by larger programs,” Powers said.

Lewis said the centennial celebration in September is the perfect opportunity for those in the Miller School to remember their roots, while laying the foundation for the next century.

“With faculty, alumni and students working together, the history and tradition of the Miller School will be preserved,” Lewis said. “And they can look ahead to prepare for another 100 years.”

Read more about the Miller School’s Centennial celebration.

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