Reynolds School of Journalism Associate Professor of Media Law and Graduate Director Patrick File has been named the Kappa Tau Alpha Outstanding Adviser for 2023.

Kappa Tau Alpha, the seventh oldest national honor society in the country, is a college honor society that recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism and mass communication. Founded in 1910, Kappa Tau Alpha inducts journalism students with a record of academic excellence into the Society from over 95 collegiate chapters across the country. The Reynolds School’s Kappa Tau Alpha chapter was founded in 1956 by Professor Alfred Higginbotham.

File accepted the award in Washington, D.C. on August 8, 2023 during the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference. The award was presented by Kappa Tau Alpha President Bill Cassidy, a journalism professor at Northern Illinois University. Reynolds School of Journalism Dean Al Stavitsky was named KTA’s Outstanding Adviser of the year in 2007.

“It was a surprise and an honor to follow in Dean Al Stavitsky’s footsteps in winning this award. I’ve taken it as motivation to continue to serve Kappa Tau Alpha well as an organization, and to create opportunities for our Reynolds School KTA inductees that make membership meaningful beyond the certificate, pin and honor cord they get to wear at graduation.”

At the Reynolds School, File oversees the Kappa Tau Alpha chapter which honors students annually at its Savitt Awards Ceremony.