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This year, we’re celebrating the centennial of the Department of Journalism, established April 21,1922, by the Board of Regents. As we have explored archival documents dating to the 1920s, it’s been fun to go through photos and see the changes in technology (and fashion!) over the past 100 years.

What hasn’t changed is the importance of both universities and journalism in upholding democracy. As I said in our coverage of the department’s history, the journalism industry has seen tremendous change over the past 10 decades, but our goal has remained steady: teach students to find truth and hold power to account.

Thousands of our graduates have gone on to become working journalists, and I had the opportunity to talk with three of them—John Branch (MJour’89), Jackie Fortiér (MJour’13) and Vignesh Ramachandran (Jour’11)—about topics ranging from what challenges they face as journalists to how they find joy in their jobs.

Of course, the unique strength of our new college is the synergy formed by all of our academic programs. Across the board, our faculty members are educating the next generation of communicators and exploring how they can have a positive impact on humanity. Be sure to check out Associate Professor Stephen Voida’s work on improving mental health therapy through technology, and the climate-focused projects taken on by faculty and students in Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design; Communication; Critical Media Practices; and Journalism.

As CMCI enters its seventh year and becomes more mature as a college, I can’t wait to see what the next century holds and what important stories, projects and research the faculty, students and alumni from all of our disciplines will pursue!

Please keep sending us your updates to feature in Alumni News and let us know if you’ll be on campus. I’d love to hear from you.

Lori Bergen, PhD
Founding Dean
College of Media, Communication and Information