The centennial year of journalism education at Nevada was remarkable for student achievement, faculty success and major events. Hi, Dean Al Stavitsky here. Let’s take a look back at the Reynolds School’s spring semester in review.
RSJ students brought home six Hearst Journalism Awards, often called the Pulitzers of collegiate journalism, in the categories of multimedia, audio and investigative reporting.
It was a big year for our film emphasis as well.
Master’s program alumni Mark Maynard and Richie Bednarski were awarded Best Nevada Film for their documentary “Piconland,” at a festival in Boulder City.
“On The Record,” the documentary about our first 100 years, produced by Professor Kari Barber and a team of students, won a prestigious “Best in Competition” award from the Broadcast Education Association.
And Professor Melissa McClinton won the Audience and Sponsors awards at the NYU Sports Film Festival for her film about pioneering sportscasters Jayne Kennedy.
It was also a great semester for high-profile speakers and events.
Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein delivered the 58th annual Ted Scripps Lecture and engaged with students, faculty and community members while on campus.
Journalist and legal scholar Ike Bailey spoke at our First Amendment Forum.
And RSJ public relations students in our national Bateman Competition team sponsored a community event to target misinformation and promote news literacy.
Our Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science reported on water clarity at Lake Tahoe with dramatic footage from the Reynolds School’s drone.
And this guy was invited to speak at the Library of Congress’ conference on the history of American broadcasting in Washington, D.C.
We ended our centennial year by graduating 75 exceptional students who represent the next generation of media leaders and innovators.
A final, and personal note: after more than 11 years in this office, I will be stepping down as your dean at the end of fall semester and returning to the Reynolds School faculty as a professor. Serving as dean has been the highlight of my career in journalism and higher education and I’m grateful to the students, colleagues and alumni and friends of the Reynolds School who welcomed me and who have helped build this world-class program.
I’m eager to return to the classroom and look forward to many more exceptional semesters like the one just past.
Who knows what we’ll accomplish next year? Until then, enjoy the summer. And know you are always welcome at the Reynolds School.
