Welcome back to Andersen Hall and to the New (Academic) Year!
I hope you all had a rewarding summer break, and that you are as excited as I am for the year ahead. Our space has been much too quiet without you! But we’ve stayed busy planning an incredible array of speakers, trips, classes and projects for 2019-2020.
At CoJMC, we will continue our celebration of the 125th anniversary of journalism education at Nebraska. That’s right! It was back in 1894 when a young student from Red Cloud named Willa Cather enrolled in the first journalism class on our campus. She went on to write Pulitzer Prize-winning work using skills sharpened by her education right here.
You can take pride in this shared heritage while we explore and build together the future of media.
The principles of great writing and the use of facts, evidence and data to tell compelling stories remain the driving ethos of all four of our majors. Our non-fiction storytelling builds on our passion for understanding the people and the world around us.
This will be an exciting semester at the college filled with plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in clubs and experiences, connect with peers and mentors, and dive into hands-on learning in the field.
I encourage each of you to try something new this semester. Whether it’s attending a meeting for a student organization or taking one of our many pop-up courses, reaching out to a professional or sitting down with a professor, there is value in letting your curiosity and enthusiasm lead the way. Now is your time to be bold. Let’s make this the best year yet.
Go Big Red!
Amy J. Struthers, Ph.D.
Interim Dean and Professor
College of Journalism and Mass Communications