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CMA Hall of Fame – College Media Review

CMA Hall of Fame

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John A. Boyd Hall of Fame Award

The John A. Boyd Hall of Fame Award honors those long-time members of College Media Association whose dedication, commitment and sacrifices have contributed to the betterment and value of student media programs both on their campus and nationally.

Persons being considered for this award must have contributed to collegiate journalism education for 20 or more years while an active member of College Media Association.

It also recognized the contributions of CMA members who have actively contributed to the organization through extensive and varied service on committees, the board of directors and other leadership roles and have presented programs and sessions at meetings which have been insightful, well-prepared and relevant.

HALL OF FAME RECIPIENTS

David Adams, Indiana University, 1997
Robert Adams, Western Kentucky University, 2006
Robert Bohler, Texas Christian University, 2016
Karen Bosley, Ocean County College, 2007
John A. Boyd, Indiana State University, 1994
Jeff Breaux, Vanderbilt University, 2020
Chris Carroll, Vanderbilt University, 2009
Steven Chappell, Northwest Missouri State, 2023
Jan Childress, Texas Tech University, 2006
J. William Click, Winthrop University, 1994
Nancy L. Green, 1994
Les Hyder, Eastern Illinois University, 1997
Louis Ingelhart, Ball State University, 1994
Ron Johnson, Indiana University, 2012
David L. Knott, Ball State University, 1999
Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, Florida International University, 1994
Kathy Lawrence McCarty, University of Texas at Austin, 2010
Wayne Maikranz, UNC Charlotte, 2008
Lesley W. Marcello, Nicholls State University, 1996
Kelly Messinger, Capital University, 2020
Reid H. Montgomery, Florida State University, 1994
Bill Neville, University of Alabama, Birmingham, 2011
Linda Owens, University of South Carolina, Aiken, 2005
Marilyn Peterson, Midland Lutheran College, 1994
Dario Politella, University of Massachusetts, 1994
Linda Puntney, Kansas State University, 2001
John David Reed, Eastern Illinois University, 1996
Sally Renaud, Eastern Illinois University, 2017
Nils Rosdahl, North Idaho College, 2012
Ken Rosenauer, Missouri Western State University, 2003
John Ryan, Eastern Illinois University, 2008
Arthur M. Sanderson, University of South Florida, 1994
Trum Simmons, Harrisburg Area Community College, 2005
Stacy Sparks, Eastern Illinois University, 2015
Ron Spielberger, University of Memphis, 1998
David Swartzlander, Doane College, 2019
Ann Thorne, Missouri Western University, 2019
James Tidwell, Eastern Illinois University, 2011
Bonnie Thrasher, Arkansas State University, 2016
Nancy White, Hillsborough Community College, 2001
Laura Widmer, 2003
Mark Witherspoon, Iowa State University, 2010

CMA Hall of Fame Inductees

David  Adams, Indiana University, 1997

David L. Adams gave more than two decades of his career to advising, teaching, training, coaching, critiquing, counseling, recruiting and motivating hundreds of students, many of whom now have their own careers in journalism and journalism education.

Dave joined the National Council of College Publications Advisers, CMA’s predecessor, in 1975. At that point, he was beginning his collegiate media advising career at Fort Hays State University in western Kansas, after five years as an adviser in scholastic journalism.

He worked tirelessly on behalf of CMA, including service as CMA president in 1987-89, as well as serving as the first vice president for member services in 1985-87. In the latter role he established a firmer foundation for summer workshops for newer advisers and more professional development programming for advisers at the spring and fall national conventions. He said, “if I have anything I am most proud of, it’s my efforts to mentor and train newer journalism educators and student media advisers at both the secondary and college levels.”

A staunch advocate for a free, responsible student press, David Adams had a deserved national reputation for advancing the cause of the First Amendment. He was not only a long-time member of the Student Press Law Center board, but he was also a hard-working advocate for the center and its cause.

Dave’s list of accomplishments is indeed remarkable: CMA offices, CMA adviser awards, CMA’s Louis Ingelhart First Amendment Award, and students whose publications consistently won Associated Collegiate Press Pacemakers and Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crowns.

One former student said, “While on the yearbook staff, I learned about his exacting drive for excellence. But, and this is the mark of an outstanding adviser, he never said, ‘Do it like this, but instead he gently showed, encouraged and prodded us in the right direction. Because Dave was always there for us, we created the best for him.”

That editorial independence fueled the success of David L. Adams and the successful education of his students.

CMA renamed the spring convention’s best of show award to the David L. Adams Apple Awards after Dave died.

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Robert Adams, Western Kentucky University, 2006

Bob Adams, after 40 years as student publications adviser and director at Western Kentucky University, described his goals and added, “I am still naive enough to think that I can make a difference in students’ lives.”

“Teaching and advising are inseparable … that is how I have approached my career. My formula works for me … a blend of confidence, respect and love.”

WKU’s former president agreed. He said, “Unlike anyone I have observed in my career, Bob knows how to offer guidance to his students without making decisions for them or influencing their work. He ensures that our students understand their roles as independent journalists whose duty it is to report the news, whether it be good, bad or otherwise.”

His WKU colleagues described him as a “24/7 teacher,” and students praised him for his “knowledge and skill, his dedication to their learning, his untiring commitment to support their learning both in and outside the classroom, and his continuing presence as the ‘master teacher’ in their lives long after they have left his classroom and the university.”

Adams has been CMAs Distinguished Four-Year Newspaper Adviser and chaired the Awards and Newspaper committees. He has also presented in fall and spring conventions and attended his first CMA/ACP convention in 1969 in Miami Beach. His yearbook and newspaper have both been National Pacemakers and won Gold Crowns. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2005.

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Robert Bohler, Texas Christian University, 2016

Robert Bohler taught and advised student journalists at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, and Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, for more than 25 years.

While student publications director, adviser and instructor at TCU, he advised the TCU Daily Skiff laboratory newspaper and its weekly successor, Skiffx360, along with the quarterly Image Magazine, and the TCU 360 news staff that emerged from the consolidation of the student newspaper, online, and broadcast news operations. Prior to the convergence, he also oversaw the print production and advertising operations.

Bohler joined the TCU Department of Journalism in 2000 after 10 years as a journalism faculty member at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga., where he also served as adviser to news operations at The George-Anne, the student newspaper.

“Bohler never allowed us to be lazy, in our reporting, our coverage or our decision-making,” Kelley Lash, editor of The George-Anne 1998-2000, said. “He repeatedly asked us ‘why,’ and if we couldn’t give him a good answer, we knew we were on the wrong track. Being able to defend your good decisions, or abandon your bad ones, is an amazing life lesson to learn at a young age.”

Bohler served College Media Association as editor of College Media Review, its magazine of popular and peer-reviewed articles, from 2006 until 2012, during which time he oversaw its transformation from a print to digital product in 2011. From 2002 until 2006, he was coordinator of publication critiques at the CMA national conventions. He has conducted numerous sessions at the national conventions and also the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, with which he has remained active since his retirement from TCU.

He has worked in, written about, promoted and taught how to practice journalism since 1981, when he began his career at a weekly newspaper in Georgia. His professional experiences have ranged from that of managing editor at that small weekly newspaper to general assignment and public affairs reporting at medium-sized and metropolitan dailies. They include The Lanier County (Georgia) News, The Valdosta (Georgia) Daily Times, The Athens (Georgia) Banner- Herald and The Athens Daily News, The Greenville (South Carolina) News, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For the past two and a half years, he has worked as a writer and copy editor in Pearson North America’s collaboration with the Boy Scouts of America at its national headquarters in Irving, Texas, to produce content for the national youth organization, and he is a board member of the Fort Worth chapter of Society of Professional Journalists.

“I have probably experienced more exciting times as a reporter than as an adviser. But nothing has been more rewarding to me than seeing young people be challenged, challenge themselves, and succeed in a profession that requires chutzpah as an opener.”

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Karen Bosley, Ocean County College, 2007

When Karen Bosley was finishing her illustrious 41-year career as an educator, she was involved in one of the biggest First Amendment battles of her career. With help from the Student Press Law Center, College Media Advisers (now Association) and her students, Bosley prevailed in her fight against her dismissal as adviser to The Viking News, a paper she helped tum into a weekly and guide to numerous awards.

In December 2005, the board of trustees at Ocean County (N.J.) College voted not to renew Bosley’s contract as adviser to the paper. The removal came after several stories from 2000 and 2005 were published that were critical of the school’s administration. Believing Bosley’s removal was a form of censorship, three of her students filed a lawsuit against the school and several administrators, claiming the students’ First Amendment rights had been violated. Six weeks later, Bosley filed a similar lawsuit alleging that administrators violated her First Amendment rights and discriminated against her on the basis of her age. In July 2006, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction reinstating Bosley as the newspaper’s adviser.

Subsequent to this action, Bosley reached a settlement with the college over her lawsuit that resulted in a monetary settlement and her reinstatement to her duties as adviser. So she continued to help teach and shape strong student journalists and hold them to high standards. One student writes: “Professor Bosley instilled in her students the fundamentals of journalism. She encouraged us to question authority and to report the news with accuracy and objectivity. She taught us to gather the information from more than one source and to prepare to defend our stories … She has defended this paper in meetings, the media and in court. Her spirit and her determination are an inspiration to her students.”

Bosley began her career as a copy editor and reporter for the Indianapolis News while working on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Indianapolis. She later received master’s degrees from both Northwestern and Ball State.

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John A. Boyd, Indiana State University, 1994

Throughout CMA’s long and distinguished history, John A. Boyd was a guiding and inspiring force in its growth and responsiveness to the needs of its ever­ expanding and diverse membership.

Like many of those being inducted into the College Media Adviser Hall of Fame, he was described by colleagues and former students as a staunch “train ’em, trust em, support ’em” practitioner. Whether in written articles, presentations at professional meetings, or one-on-one teaching and advising situations, he set the standards by which quality is measured in student publications and served as the consummate role model for those who sought to excel as media advisers.

He advised trend-setting and award-winning publications at Indiana State University for some 30 years before retiring in 1982. He took pride in the three former students who have won the Pulitzer Prize. His financial support funded scholarships for three journalism students to study at Indiana State.

For 18 years, from 1964-1982, his was the hub of the national professional association for College Media Advisers, then known as the National Council of College Publications Advisers. He served as executive director without compensation or release time and often personally paid for supplies and services necessary to support the fledgling organization. He did just about everything – whatever was necessary to fulfill the organization’s commitment to serving its adviser members and student media in general. He edited the newsletter, planned and coordinated workshops and meetings, and wrote innumerable articles, letters and reports to advance the cause of college student media and promote advising as a noble and worthy calling.

Almost single-handedly, John Boyd convinced editors of the Associated Press Stylebook, professional journalists and others to accept as the preferred spelling of “adviser’ with an “e”. He took great pride in this accomplishment, which he considered to be his most significant. Those who worked with and learned under him know that this achievement pales in comparison to the foundation for this great organization that he helped create, nurture and promote throughout his long and distinguished career.

The CMA Hall of Fame was named after him following his death.

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Jeff Breaux, Vanderbilt University, 2020

Jeff Breaux has served as Assistant Director of Student Media at Vanderbilt University since January 1998. Prior to working with Vanderbilt Student Media, Breaux served as Director of Student Media and Publications at Tulane University and Art Director for Student Media at The University of South Carolina.

He received a Master of Media Arts from The University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science (Advertising Design) from Northwestern State University (LA). He also owns a higher education publishing company and publishes books for several colleges & universities. He continues to work as a freelance graphic designer and served as the graphic designer for the Grammy-winning group Hootie and the Blowfish (1994-96).

Breaux has served as Editor/Designer of College Media Advisers’ Best of Collegiate Design (1998-2000), Art Director for College Media Review (1999-2000), Vice President of Southern University Newspapers (2000-01), Designer of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition for the National Orientation Directors Association (1998-2018) and the College Media Association’s New York Spring Convention Publicity/Services Coordinator (2002-05 and 2012-15).

Breaux has received the following collegiate media advising honors from College Media Association (CMA): CMA Presidential Citation 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; CMA Board of Director’s Citation 2000, 2002, 2004, 2015; CMA Distinguished Four-year Business Adviser 2001; CMA Ronald E. Spielberger Service to CMA Award 2004 (first recipient of award).
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Steven Chappell, Northwest Missouri State, 2023

Steven Chappell, a college media adviser with more than three decades of service to College Media Association, will be inducted into CMA’s hall of fame this fall.

Inclusion on the list is CMA’s highest honor, said Chris Whitley, the organization’s president.

“In 30 years of working with college media, Steven has given so much of his time to help CMA, from being the tech guru at conventions when he first started to being the organization’s treasurer on its board of directors,” Whitley said. “Throughout that time, I’ve always known him to be one of the first people to help out if something needed to be done and the first one to assist an adviser who needed guidance.”

Steven Chappell
Steven Chappell

Chappell serves as an instructor of mass media and director of student publications at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. He has been a media adviser and active member of CMA since 1993, arriving to the profession after 10 years as a professional journalist.

He is also the founder of the Twitter feed @comminternships, which shares internship and entry-level openings in communication jobs across the globe.

Chappell began advising at Northwest Missouri State after being recommended for the job by Laura Widmer, who had held the adviser’s job there for decades.

“I first met Steve when he attended the CMA New Advisers Workshop in Washington, D.C.,” Widmer said. “I was the instructor for that workshop. His personality filled the room then, and that started a great friendship that continues today. He’s unique. He’s smart. He’s student-focused. He’s an incredible adviser. He’s a hall of fame adviser.

“The biggest compliment I can give Steve is after 29 years I left my job at Northwest Missouri State University and went to Iowa State. I made one phone call for the one adviser I wanted to take my job. Steve Chappell was that one call. I knew he would take care of the program I built, and would take it to the next level.”

Before becoming a full-time college media adviser, Chappell was a sports photographer, sports editor and newspaper editor.

He was named to the CMA Four-Year College Newspaper Adviser Honor Roll in 2004 for outstanding media advising and service to the organization.

He received the President’s Award from the Southeast Journalism Convention in 2010 for his work as vice president and contest coordinator, and he was named Missouri College Media Association Adviser of the Year for 2016.

His @comminternships feed has landed him roles as a communications internship expert with organizations such as ProfNet, Reuters and LinkedIn.

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Chris Carroll, Vanderbilt University, 2009

Chris Carroll has served College Media Association in a variety of ways for years as a leader, visionary, coordinator and defender of the First Amendment.

Carroll began his career in college media advising in 1986 at Arkansas Tech University. Since then he’s served as director of student media at Tulane University, the University of South Carolina and since 1996 at Vanderbilt University.

During those years he has served as CMA’s vice president, president, and executive director. He’s been recognized with a number of awards, including CMA’s Honor Roll Four-Year Newspaper Adviser Award, Honor Roll Four-Year Broadcast Adviser Award, Distinguished Four-Year Multi-Media Adviser Award and the Ronald E. Spielberger Service to CMA Award. He received the Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. Distinguished Service Award, the Gold Key from Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Student Press Law Center Distinguished Service Award.

Carroll is a past president of the Southeast Journalism Conference, founder of the Middle Tennessee Scholastic Press Association, co-founder of the Center for Innovation in College Media, and founder of the College Media Institute. He is a frequent presenter, consultant and judge for media associations and universities.

His Hall of Fame nomination was supported by a multitude of fellow CMA advisers as well as media students from each of the schools he has served.

“Chris Carroll doesn’t just talk about what needs to be done, he does it,” wrote Past President and fellow Hall of Fame member Jan Childress.

Former Vanderbilt student Anne Malinee wrote, “I think what distinguishes Chris most is his commitment to innovation. He is always looking for ways to make student media more efficient and effective, and he isn’t afraid to experiment to accomplish these goals.”

The student media Carroll has advised have been recognized with Associated Collegiate Press Pacemakers, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crowns, top awards from Southeastern Journalism Association, the Associated Press, as well as many state and regional contests.

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Jan Childress, Texas Tech University, 2006

Childress served CMA as its president, chair of the Adviser Advocate and Elections committees, and spring convention director. In her 32-year career at Texas Tech, she has been a regular convention and workshop presenter and the publications under her supervision have been National Pacemaker and Gold Crown winners.

“She’s stood tall for her students and put her own neck on the line when their rights were threatened. Jan always has been her best when the game was on the line and stakes were high,” says a former employee about Childress.

A 2001 student editor further commented that “the most important value she instilled in me was how vital to democracy it is for journalists to fight vigilantly and persistently for the people’s right to know. She didn’t teach this through lecture, but through poised example.”

Childress said that her advising philosophy was one inspired by CMA’s first executive director, Sandy Sanderson: “train ’em and trust ’em.” She continued, “I have great confidence in young people and have rarely been disappointed when they have been adequately prepared for a role and given an opportunity to excel.”

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William Click, Winthrop University, 1994

A former president of the National Council of College Publications Advisers, J. William Click was a long time active contributor to the organization’s many programs and services and to its evolution into today’s College Media Advisers then Association. He is well-known for the student publications governance monograph he authored and the ethics monograph he co-authored.

In planning several of the organization’s conventions and workshops during the ’70s, he developed the model for the diversity and scope of sessions that continue to make college media conventions informative, relevant and helpful.

He served as president of the organization for four years, and was one of the first people contacted by newly elected CMA officers who counted on his knowledge of the organization’s rich history and understanding of its purpose to help guide them.

Throughout his career he has been a key figure in setting the standards used by critical services in evaluating student publications and evaluating their goals. Hundreds of university administrators and advisers have attended his December workshop. Thousands of student journalists and advisers have attended one of the summer journalism workshops he has coordinated. He has advised award-winning student journalists at each of the four institutions in which he has taught.

Dr. Click retired as the chair of the department of mass communication at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina.

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Nancy L. Green, 1994

Nancy L. Green’s contributions to scholastic and college student media and the journalism profession have gone on for years. When she went to the University of Kentucky as adviser in 1971, her goal was to move the Kentucky Kernel, where she worked as a student, to independence. She accomplished that goal in six months and grew the organization into a financially successful, award-winning organization. Over the next 11 years, her students consistently won regional and national awards for their work

“Nancy’s singular focus on our professional development, in real newsrooms dedicated to high-quality journalism, drove us to excel,” said former student Virginia Edwards.

She moved on to Texas Student Publications at UT Austin in 1982. Then her career took her to professional newspapers as a publisher and headquarters executive for Gannett Newspapers. Her contributions to and support of student media continued with the same enthusiasm and results-oriented success that she consistently showed in every assignment.

From Gannett, she moved back into colleges as a vice president for advancement at Clayton State University in Atlanta and on to Vice President for Communications at Georgia G.L.O.B.E., the Georgia System’s online learning initiative. She moved back to newspapers joining the corporate staff of Iowa-based Lee Enterprises focused on growing circulation at all its dailies in 23 states.

Her contributions to CMA began upon her employment at the University of Kentucky in 1971. She served as a state and regional director, was a member of the College Press Review editorial board, planned conventions and workshops, and was elected vice president for member services for one term and president for two consecutive terms.

During her terms as president, an annual report to the membership was begun, the bylaws and constitution were revised to reflect the growth of the organization, an Adviser’s Code of Ethics was developed, the name of the organization was changed from National Council of College Publications Advisers to College Media Advisers to reflect the inclusion of electronic media, regional and national adviser workshops were offered, vendors were actively encouraged to exhibit at national conventions, and Chrysler Corporation provided a grant to underwrite business and economic reporting competitions and special projects.

She played a key role in establishing CMA’s headquarters. The John A. Boyd Archives at the University of Alabama and the Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award were established under her leadership. She was a leader in supporting and fundraising for the Student Press Law Center. The publications that she advised while at the University of Kentucky and the University of Texas at Austin were consistent award winners and reflected her strong leadership and advising skills. She has received several distinguished adviser awards from CMA, the Gold Key Award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and Pioneer Award from NSPA.

When she joined Gannett Newspapers, her support of college student media continued. She was a regular speaker at workshops and conventions, a member of the board of directors of Student Press Law Center, and an advocate for the student press when meeting with professional journalists. She continued to support student journalists and educators in her roles in professional organizations.

She was named to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and Ball State University Journalism Hall of Fame. She is a University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Communication Distinguished Alumna, and a Ball State University Outstanding Journalism Alumnus.

“Working with and seeing my high school and college student journalists succeed has been the most fun and greatest joy of my career,” Green said.

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Les Hyder, Eastern Illinois University, 1997

“A professional of high standards and accomplishments” is how one colleague described Dr. Les R. Hyder, then chair of the Department of Journalism at Eastern Illinois University, and his more than 25 years of service, mostly in leadership roles, to CMA.

Nurturing is the key word from former students and colleagues at Henderson State University, the University of Tennessee and Southern Methodist University. “I know of no other professional in the field who has as steadfastly and courageously displayed a dedication to the nurturing of the education of university journalists, the defense of student media, and the advancement of national student media organizations as Dr. Hyder,” noted a former student at SMU.

This dedication has displayed itself also in his contributions to CMA where he was a member of or chaired most committees. He served for 15 years on the Advisory Council and 12 years on the Board of Directors as secretary, treasurer and acting vice president for member services. He edited the CMA Newsletter, planned numerous regional and national CMA workshops and directed two CMA/ACP fall conventions. He also advised a variety of award-winning newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines and broadcast media.

Organizations have honored his contributions also; CSPA by giving him a Gold Key, CMA by naming him Distinguished Business Adviser, the Poynter Institute and the American Press Institute by awarding him fellowships. He has served numerous organizations in executive capacities, including the Western Association of University Publications Managers, Southwestern journalism Congress, Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, Tennessee Intercollegiate Press Association and Southern University Newspapers, an organization that he helped co-found.

While individuals mentioned his genuine interest in people, his passion for the management of student media programs, his kind and patient manner, they also commented on his dedication and commitment and how he preferred to work behind the scenes to provide “tedious detail so essential to successful event planning.”

His own words set the tone of his attitude “It is most humbling to be considered worthy of induction in the National College Media Adviser Hall of Fame.” Les Hyder epitomized the best of CMA, the “essence of the ideal professional.”

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Louis Ingelhart, Ball State University, 1994

Freedom of the press, especially for college journalists, had no stronger advocate than Louis Ingelhart. He was a long-time chair of CMA’s First Amendment committee and a tireless contributor to other organizations, including the Student Press Law Center, Society of Professional Journalists and First Amendment Congress.

His voice was among the first raised whenever the freedoms of the press were threatened. He taught generations of young journalists the importance of responsible journalism and was a source of counsel and wisdom for practicing journalists and others concerned about freedom of speech.

Through his books, articles, presentations at meetings and in other forums, none made more influential and significant contributions in defending and supporting freedom of expression. The proceeds of his very successful book, “Student Publications: Legalities, Governance, and Operation”, were generously donated to CMA.

Professor of journalism emeritus since his 1983 retirement from Ball State University, he was a long-time journalism teacher and former chair of the journalism department. He is credited by students and colleagues for having set the standards that endure today in what is widely known as a top academic journalism and student publications program. Ball State alumni occupy top positions in professional journalism media, scholastic and college journalism, and student publications media throughout the nation. All attest to Louie’s strength of character as a person, teacher and journalist and credit him as having made a significant and lasting impact on them. In addition to Ball State, he advised student publications at Mesa College in Colorado, Stephens College in Missouri, and Wayne State College in Nebraska. He was an active member of this organization since 1956 and presented more than 200 sessions at the fall and spring national college media conventions. He played a major role in organizing support for National Freedom of the Campus Press Day, initiated by CMA in 1982.

He received the distinguished adviser, Noel Ross Strader, and First Amendment awards from CMA and NCCPA. Other awards include the First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award from Playboy, the Pioneer Award from Associated Collegiate Press, and the Gold Key Award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

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Ron Johnson, Indiana University, 2012

Ron Johnson has advised collegiate media at three universities over three decades. He’s helped scholastic and collegiate journalists through his convention and workshop sessions on design, content development, management and leadership.

The collegiate journalists he advised at Indiana University, Kansas State University and Fort Hays State University won more than 40 top publications prizes, six national titles in journalistic writing and hundreds of individual awards across print and digital, in writing, design and visuals.

CMA president from 1991-93, Johnson has served as president of two national and one state collegiate press association, as CMA vice president from 1989-91 and as board member of four national associations.

His CMA life began as a collegiate journalist. Johnson edited both the Reveille yearbook and University Leader newspaper at Fort Hays, in western Kansas. His adviser was CMA Hall of Famer David Adams. As a freshman, Johnson’s first CMA convention was in New Orleans, in fall 1977. He graduated in 1981, earned a master’s in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1982, and returned to Fort Hays as journalism director and publications adviser, from 1985-89.

He’s been leading sessions ever since — at CMA, Associated Collegiate Press, National Scholastic Press Association, Journalism Education Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Canadian University Press and state associations in Kansas and Indiana. He also edited six editions of The Best of Newspaper Design, the competition annual for the international Society for News Design.

At Kansas State, from 1989-2004, Johnson directed student publications and advised the students who produced the Kansas State Collegian and kstatecollegian.com, one of the first collegiate dailies online. Responding to the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision, he led the Kansas Scholastic Press Association’s legislative committee and helped the state effort to pass student-press legislation in 1992 to protect free-press rights for public high-school journalists. After years of content challenges from K-State’sa administration and student government, Johnson was removed as director and adviser. He was then the beneficiary of broad support from CMA and the Student Press Law Center before his case ended in federal appeals court. He continued to teach at K-State until 2008.

That’s when he become student-media director at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he advised the students who produce the Indiana Daily Student newspaper, Arbutus yearbook, Inside magazine and their sites and social media. At IU, his students were known for in-depth reporting and news design, and they benefited from a dynamic partnership between the independent publications and academic journalism.

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David L. Knott, Ball State University, 1999

When colleagues, former students and friends speak of Dave Knott, they use terms like committed, collaborative, caring. As one nominator said, “He’s a wonderful colleague who was always available to help, mentor and involve new advisers in College Media [Association].” He undertakes tough jobs in multiples of two and three, quietly keeping each one on-track with a minimum of fanfare.

This quiet, behind-the-scenes style typified Knott’s work in CMA, the Indiana Collegiate Press Association and as an adviser. Knott became a member when CMA had its original name, the National Council of College Publications Advisers, the moment he became adviser to the Ball State Daily News in 1976 following a successful tenure on the Toledo Blade copydesk while an instructor and doctoral student at the University of Toledo.

Knott moved into national leadership in 1977 as a regional director at the same time he became executive director of the Indiana Collegiate Press Association. He also joined the CMA Advisory Board in 1981 as chair of the newspaper committee and added the duties of the editor of College Media Review in 1983. He maintained his role as editor through the time he was elected vice president of CMA. During the next five years, Knott simultaneously edited CMR, served as vice president, president and past president of CMA while advising and continuing his leadership in Indiana collegiate press circles.

Knott, as one nominator said, “exemplifies all that CMA stands for … dedicated, hard-working adviser who shares unselfishly of his time to serve the organization and colleagues while upholding the rights of students to a free and unfettered press.”

Of his own experience, Knott said, “My association with CMA was one of the best experiences of my teaching career. Working with the organization and all the wonderful lifelong friends I made through that experience made me a better teacher and adviser. I shall always cherish what CMA has meant to me and to the scores of students I took with me to the many conferences and conventions. They were some of the best and most rewarding times of my life.”

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Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, Florida International University, 1994

When a tough challenge faces leaders of professional organizations, especially CMA, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Society of Professional Journalists, the person they turn to for advice and assistance is Lillian Kopenhaver.

Her inner strength of character, outgoing and caring personality, and extraordinary competence in solving problems have enhanced CMA throughout her more than 25 years as a member and leader. She planned multiple National College Media Conventions, both fall and spring. She helped develop the model for programming and promoting conventions.

She is among the most prolific and knowledgeable researchers of collegiate journalism issues. Her findings have often been consulted by colleges and universities when developing organizational structures for student media programs, job descriptions for student editors and advisers, compensation and incentive programs, and codes of ethics. The monograph on ethics and responsibilities, which she co-authored with Bill Click, is one of the most frequently consulted references for many advisers and student editors.

She served as CMA vice president for four years, vice president for public affairs (now member services) for four years, and president for four years. She was named the Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2009 and was presented with the Distinguished Service Award of the Newspaper Division of AEJMC. She served on the board of directors of the Student Press Law Center since shortly after its inception and received CMA’s distinguished adviser and distinguished service awards, CSPA’s Gold Key Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Wells Memorial Key. At Florida International University, she received its Service Medallion, the Faculty Torch Award, the Top Scholar Award and the Impact Award from the School of Communication and Journalism, and was FIU’s honoree for Philanthropy Miami. She was also named the Outstanding Alumnus for 2005 from Rowan University.

She initiated and nurtured thriving, successful and award-winning student publications programs at the New Jersey high school where her academic career started in 1962 and later at Ocean County College, Miami-Dade College-North Campus and Florida International University in Miami.

“I joined CMA the first day I stepped into a college classroom and started advising the student newspaper there,” Kopenhaver said. “CMA was a tremendous resource throughout my career of advising and teaching journalism. It has meant friendships and networking, the opportunity to help others and be of service to college media, the ability to do research in the field and help make advising a career choice for others.”

Currently, Dr. Kopenhaver is dean emeritus and professor in the School of Communication and Journalism and executive director of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women at FIU.

“Throughout a person’s life you encounter many teachers … many of whom make little or no impact,” former student Kathy Dorry said. “Dr. Kopenhaver is the exception and has been a teacher who has had the most profound impact on my life and studies as I pursued two master’s degrees.”

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Kathy Lawrence McCarty, University of Texas at Austin, 2010

Kathy Lawrence McCarty served in many leadership roles in CMA. Those included treasurer, vice president for member services, adviser advocate and president. She also served for three years on the technology committee, two years on the new member committee, two years on the professional development committee, two years on the ethics committee and for two years on the external relations committee.

She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010 at the convention in Louisville, the same place where she attended her first convention in 1984, just nine months after becoming an adviser. She jumped right in and got involved with the technology committee and rarely stopped serving CMA since. Even in retirement, she testified before a Texas state Senate committee about First Amendment issues affecting the Texas State University newspaper.

Kathy received the Gold Key Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in recognition of her contribution to college journalism and the Multi-Cultural Journalism Award from the University of Alabama for her contribution to journalism programs.

She was named Honor Roll Yearbook Adviser in 1998 by CMA and won a Poynter Institute Fellowship in 1989 for college advisers. She has served as a consultant for student media programs across the country.

One of her colleagues said, “I would characterize Kathy … first-a journalist; second-a student advocate/mentor/protector; third-CEO of a fairly good size company. She is literally and figuratively the adviser’s adviser.”

Her students said Kathy is an excellent role model. “Kathy made students feel our success was her success, which is a reassuring feeling for a student journalist. She worked hard to provide us the tools for success. Nothing in her job description said she had to help alumni raise money for scholarships for Texas students. But she did. Perhaps most importantly, Kathy was a firm believer in freedom of expression. While always willing to provide counsel, Kathy never interfered in our publication decisions. She strongly believed that student publications should reflect students. Whether it was a controversial advertisement or an editorial, Kathy allowed us to make our own decisions. It made us better, more responsible student journalists.”

In retirement, she writes a blog at countrynewspaper.com about growing up as the daughter of a rural newspaper editor. She also has been re-editing her father’s three books as Kindle ebooks and Amazon paperbacks as well as audiobooks. She also continues to teach communication classes for the University of Phoenix online.

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Wayne Maikranz, UNC Charlotte, 2008

Recommendation letters for Wayne Maikranz reflect the highest attributes of college media advisers: mentor, leader, winner, role model, tough and challenging professor, an inspiration, and finally a friend. One former student suggested CMA recognize Maikranz with the King of Student Media award, a rare and highly regarded award given to his students that can easily describe the CMA Hall of Fame.

“Maikranz was a source of knowledge and inspiration. He encouraged me to lead by allowing me to take risks and learn from my successes and failures,” wrote Meredith Collie, Virginia Tech advertising adviser and former UNC Charlotte student.

Maikranz received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville and a master’s degree from Ball State University. His professional accomplishments include: CMA Distinguished Four-Year Magazine Adviser and Honor Roll Adviser; editor of College Media Review; presenter at many national conventions for SCP, CSPA and CMBAM. He co-authored “Guidebook for Magazines” for ACP, designed a photo book by Lex Youngman, taught countless journalism classes at UNC Charlotte over 35 years, coordinated conferences and programs, received the Employee of the Year award from UNC Charlotte. He coordinated and produced The Best of The Best Design Ideas as part of CMR in 1988 and 1989 and continued as a new Best of Collegiate Design contest. He is a former recipient of a fellowship for newspaper design instructors and advisers sponsored by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida.

While advising, his students won awards that included ACP Pacemakers and Pacemaker finalists, CSPA Gold and Silver Crowns, CMA Best of Show awards, three CMBAM BASSY Newspaper Staff the Year and Trendsetter awards, Southern Newspaper Association SUNNY Newspapers of the Year awards.

In addition, Maikranz was active in high school journalism workshops serving as a mentor for high school teachers in North Carolina. He served as contest judge for ACP, CSPA and NCSMA and critiqued newspapers, magazines and yearbooks during his advising career. He regularly volunteered to critique publications from across the nation.

“CMA leadership helped mold me and continued to encourage me along the way,” Maikranz wrote. “It was a great team that took me under their wing and helped to encourage me to try new things and to continue to volunteer for CMA. I have so much confidence that the future of CMA members will continue to have a great impact on the future of journalism and future journalists.”

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Lesley W. Marcello, Nicholls State University, 1996

A role model and mentor to students and colleagues aptly describes Lesley W. Marcello, a Southern lady with organizational and planning skills that have helped chart CMA’s path.

True to her dedication to the organization, she spoke at every CMA convention from 1970 to 2006, missing only two fall conventions, once when she got married and once when her twins were born, and one spring convention when she was ill. She was always preparing for a session or serving on a committee and did so for decades.

In addition to serving as president, Marcello was vice president, a member of the advertising and marketing, awards, newspaper, yearbook and weekly newspaper committees, district director, and chair of the 1977 New Orleans convention and site chair in 1989.

CMA honored her as its Distinguished Yearbook Adviser in 1979 and Distinguished Newspaper Adviser for Four-Year Schools in 1992, and CSPA gave her its Gold Key award in 1994. The yearbook and newspaper she advised were consistently rated All-American by ACP. But her list of CMA awards and activities only begins to touch the surface of the person herself.

Marcello went to Nicholls State, as she says, “as a green 23-year-old from the professional press,” to begin a quarter of a century at the same institution, which she attributes to the fact that she understood her role and that of the students and spent time trying to share that with the administration. Her students and alumni say that she had the courage to stand back and let them make some mistakes so that they could learn their lessons more thoroughly. They describe her as friendly, accessible and a good communicator, someone who cares about people and has the ability to improvise. An alumnus says she was indeed a rarity, “an administrator who treated students as adults, as people capable of thought.”

After retiring from Nicholls State in 2001, she began a company, College Media Consultants Inc., that produced yearly National College Yearbook Workshops in New Orleans. Even after retirement, she continued to serve on CMA’s Hall of Fame committee and speak at conventions.

“CMA meant a great deal to me and still does,” Marcello said.

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Kelly Messinger, Capital University, 2020

Kelly Messinger is the campus newspaper adviser and a professor in the English Department at Capital University, a small private school, in Columbus, Ohio. She teaches news writing, editing, design, media ethics and law, and first-year composition courses.

Messinger has been at Capital for more than 25 years, earning tenure in 2002.

For many years Messinger chaired CMA’s New Member Committee. In October 2012 Messinger received CMA’s Distinguished Four-Year Newspaper Adviser Award. From May 2015 to October 2017 she served as CMA’s vice president. She also has served on the awards and elections committees.

Prior to working at the university level, Messinger was a copy editor, reporter and high school journalism teacher.

In her spare time, Messinger is involved in dog rescue. Her brood at home consists of three miniature schnauzers and one sleepy dachshund.

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Reid H. Montgomery, Florida State University, 1994

When Reid Montgomery, Sr., retired as student publications adviser at Florida State University, it took three people to do what had been doing for years single-handedly. FSU was fortunate that only three were required. Throughout his career as an educator and adviser, none have been able to fully replace this gentle man, scholar and freedom of information advocate when he felt called to accept a new challenge elsewhere.

During his long and varied career, he taught at Winthrop College, where be chaired the journalism department, Florida State, where he also was director of student affairs, and at the University of South Carolina, where he taught journalism. When he retired from full-time teaching at USC he served for 23 years as manager of the South Carolina Press Association. While with the press association, he advised the South Carolina Collegiate Press Association and encouraged and supported its many programs to improve and recognize quality journalism among its member publications.

His ceaseless efforts to open public meetings and records in South Carolina were effective. He was the first, and often only, person contacted by journalists and others seeking guidance and support in efforts to obtain this information. Largely due to his efforts, the South Carolina legislature passed a strong freedom of information law. He spoke and wrote throughout the state and across the nation on many topics, most often about First Amendment issues.

A long-time member of CMA, he was a member and chair of several committees and gave numerous presentations at its workshops and meetings. While editor of the CMA Newsletter, Dr. Montgomery filled its pages with a treasure of information and trends, processes, legal issues, and people. He was CMA treasurer for six years and worked diligently with the headquarters manager to assure that the organization’s funds were handled properly and wisely and its financial affairs were always in order.

He is perhaps best remembered as a person of absolute integrity and always a gentleman. Those who had the good fortune to spend time with him at dinner and other informal settings found him to be delightful company. The life of every person he touched was made better for having known him.

Dr. Montgomery passed away June 10, 1993.

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William Neville III, University of Alabama, Birmingham, 2011

Bill Neville started working extensively with college students beginning in 1976 when as editor of the daily Statesboro (Ga.) Herald newspaper he coordinated work for scores of college interns during his tenure. When he taught graphic arts at the high school level, he was still involved with young student journalists as production adviser for their school paper. He moved to the college ranks in 1983 as a full time media adviser, working with college journalists at two schools until his retirement in 2014. In that time his students and the media he advised received more than 300 state, regional and national awards.

Neville advised Student Media at Georgia Southern University — including the George-Anne he edited as a college student in the 1960s, multiple magazines, a production group and WVGS, the campus FM radio station — for 22 years. He moved to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2008, where he worked as production manager and later as Director of UAB Student Media through 2014, working with the Kaleidoscope newspaper, Aura magazine and Blaze Radio on the web.

His students always knew him as a knowledgeable mentor who supports the First Amendment and students’ right to free expression, but Neville has his own mentor and source of inspiration. Jack Nolen worked with him when he was the George-Anne editor and then hired him to be the first media coordinator at the university.

“Both as a student and as a staff member, Bill was always a very strong and vocal advocate for the freedom of the student press. He worked hard and successfully in balancing the often tricky rights and responsibilities of the student press,” Nolen wrote. “The George-Anne was not without controversy. When those situations arose, Bill was always there for the students and always successfully defended the right of freedom of expression as a student -run newspaper.”

A CMA member for more than 25 years, Neville served as treasurer, managing editor an art director of College Media Review, editor of the CMA Newsletter and multiple convention programs, and director of marketing and promotions for CMA’s HQ. He served as finance committee chair and as a member of the elections, finance, technology, photojournalism and critiques committees. Even in his retirement, he still works with the hall of fame committee and serves as webmaster of CMR.

In his own words: Working with creative and energetic students has been the privilege of a lifetime. It concerns me, however, that America’s academy in many quarters today undervalues the contributions a vigorous Student Media enterprise makes to a university community. It’s a dangerous trend. Across the country, student media operations need our support, both financial and through simple encouragement, more now than ever before. I hope advisers today appreciate their opportunity to contribute to the lives of human beings. Not all will be journalists. But almost all will be enriched by the student media experience and will carry its lessons forward. Thanks to social media I can follow former students after college. And, I’ll admit, I still smile as they post their achievements and life stories. In closing, here’s my twist on some Prairie Home wisdom I’d hear on the radio on Saturday night: Be well, do good work, and rock on.

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Linda Owens, University of South Carolina, Aiken, 2005

Her students loved her “because of her dedication to them and her ability to touch them and educate them” is the way a CMA colleague described Linda Owens.

Owens served as a newspaper adviser in The University of South Carolina system for more than 20, most of them at USC-Aiken. Most recently she advised an award-winning weekly newspaper, The Pacer Times, which she said is “free of student government funding, free of prior review and censorship.”

Owens served CMA as vice president and vice president for member services, chaired the media law committee, was a regular presenter at both spring and fall conventions and for many years was CMA’s social planner for the New York City conventions. She was also named CMA’s Distinguished Four-year Newspaper Adviser, and in 2004 was selected by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for its Excellence in Journalism program.

A colleague at USC-Aiken said that as an adviser and journalist, she kept up with the newest in her discipline and brought current expertise to each class of her students. She took a lead in investigating and talking about convergence issues in a broad range of venues.

She died in 2016.

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Marilyn Peterson, Midland Lutheran College, 1994

Marilyn Peterson knows well that no job description adequately reflects the range of responsibilities of an adviser. But she does know when students are doing what they should be doing, including learning and improving their skills and serving their readers. During her 30-year career at Midland Lutheran College, she taught and inspired thousands of students creating a legacy that reaches across the globe.

She was a consistent and effective advocate of free speech in an environment that sometimes may desire to be less than enthusiastic about this concept. Most of the letters submitted in behalf of her nomination for the CMA Hall of Fame noted her unceasing advocacy of First Amendment Rights and success in educating all members of the college community of the importance of support for free speech, particularly when the speech is unpopular. She naturally trusts her students to be wise and sensible in exercising their journalistic responsibilities and they have affirmed that confidence with publications of consistent high quality.

Her contributions to CMA include serving as a member or chair of numerous committees. She was especially active on the private colleges and universities and ethics committees. She was secretary of the board of directors for six years, beginning in 1986.

She has received the CMA distinguished newspaper, yearbook and multi-media adviser awards and Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Key Award. Her work as an adviser and journalism teacher have earned her several awards from Midland Lutheran College from which she retired in 1994 as professor emeritus.

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Dario Politella, University of Massachusetts, 1994

For much of the first half of this organization’s existence, one of the recognized authorities on the student press was Dr. Dario Politella. He was a member of the steering committee that wrote the preamble and chose the name for the national professional association of college press advisers as it was being established more than 60 years ago. As a charter member, he served in various capacities, including vice chairman, district director and, after the title was changed from chairman, president.

A significant amount of his academic research dealt with student press issues stimulated by his dissertation topic, “Patterns of Press Freedom,” that concentrated on the campus press. By the time he retired in 1993 press freedom was a topic covered in most of the 10 books, four monographs and numerous articles he had written. He compiled and edited The Directory of the College Student Press in America, a comprehensive reference book that listed key information about the student publications at every college and university in the nation.

He frequently was among those faculty advisers who volunteered their time and knowledge as a speaker at college media workshops and meetings. He often represented NCCPA at dedications of student publications buildings. He provided advice to student, faculty, staff and administrators at colleges and universities seeking to establish a new student publications program or improve an existing one. In 1970 he organized a “Seminar Abroad” for college journalists, sponsored by NCCPA, that took student editors and advisers on a 20-day travel seminar to Europe and the Middle East.

Among the numerous awards earned by Dr. Politella the ones of which he is most proud are CMA distinguished adviser and service achievement awards and Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Key Award.

Dr. Politella retired from the University of Massachusetts in 1990 as professor emeritus of journalism.

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Linda Puntney, Kansas State University, 2001

Linda S. Puntney, former assistant director of Student Publications, Inc. at Kansas State University, was best known as CMA’s “Yearbook Mom.” One colleague asserted that “Campus yearbooks will survive because there is a petite woman out there in the middle of the wilderness who has the will and talent and Herculean commitment to make it so.”

And Linda has won all the awards for her dedication and timeless efforts: Missouri Journalism Teacher of the Year, CMA Distinguished Yearbook Adviser, NSPA Pioneer Award, CSPA Gold Key, JEA’s Carl Towley Award and, most recently, AEJMC’s Scholastic Journalism Division named her its “Journalism Educator of the Year.”

One former editor said: “She has high standards, and she makes sure that the staffs live up to her expectations. This is what the best teachers do. They make you set goals and then motivate you to accomplish them. And in Linda’s case, she let us have lots of fun along the way.”

Linda’s commitment to CMA’s College Yearbook Project breathed new life into yearbooks on the nation’s campuses and her two decades of leadership in CMA often had her teaching a dozen or more sessions at annual conventions, bringing forth her passion for journalism.

Linda has been termed a “loving teacher,” “respected mentor,” “dependable, energetic, professional, knowledgeable, inspiring, and so very lovable,” and “a classic”; a former editor said: “Linda and advising are a perfect match. You can see her history in the books and those who created them.”

Linda S. Puntney, currently a media consultant, retired from Kansas State University where she was an assistant professor in the Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Director of Student Publications, Royal Purple adviser and executive director of the Journalism Education Association. She received the Distinguished FourYear Yearbook Adviser award and the Distinguished Two-Year Multimedia award from CMA; Gold Key and the Charles O’Malley award from CSPA; the Pioneer Award from NSPA/ACP; Medal of Merit, Carl Towley and Teacher Inspiration Award from JEA.

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John David Reed, Eastern Illinois University, 1996

‘Tell the truth and don’t be afraid.” “Train ’em and trust ’em.” These are the principles that guided John David Reed during a long and distinguished career as a journalist and an adviser.

His paychecks came from the Chicago Sun-Times, where from 1967 to 1972 he was a reporter and overnight city editor, and Eastern Illinois University, where he advised student publications and taught journalism from 1972 through 2004, when he retired. Students and professional journalists across the nation have been the beneficiaries of his dedication, competence and values.

Student media he advised were consistent award-winners year after year and were in the vanguard of technology innovation and service to the university community. Under his leadership, EIU developed one of the most extensive dynamic and successful student publications programs in the nation at universities of comparable size. He has received the university’s Outstanding Faculty Award and Distinguished Faculty Award. CMA honored him with the Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award and Distinguished Four-Year College Newspaper Adviser Award. He also received the Gold Key Award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Society for Collegiate Journalists’ Medal of Honor.

CMA was enhanced by his leadership and contributions as vice president for member services, director of several fall national conventions, and service on many committees, notably newspaper, diversity, and press law, the latter of which he chaired for six years. He was a founder of the present-day Illinois College Press Association, of which he was secretary -treasurer for many years; executive director and president of SCJ; and a member of the board of directors for the Illinois Press Association and Illinois Press Foundation.

Reed generously and widely shared his knowledge, skills and perspectives by speaking at innumerable meetings and conferences. Two of his special passions were fostering an understanding of and protecting First Amendment freedoms and rights and encouraging diversity on campus and in professional journalism. His students described him as a mentor who is caring, nurturing, demanding, and supportive. His colleagues respected his uncompromising commitment to instructional and professional excellence and his selfless dedication to journalism education, his fellow journalists and faculty and his students.

Dave enthusiastically calls advising college publications the best job of his life.

John David Reed is professor of journalism and coordinator of student publications at Eastern Illinois University.

Reed also directed the Mid-America Press Institute for many years and is a recipient of the IPA’s James C. Craven Freedom of the Press Award and a member of the Lincoln League of Journalists of the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors. He continues to serve on the IPF’s board of directors.

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Sally Renaud, Eastern Illinois University, 2017

Sally Renaud advises the Warbler yearbook at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. She has taught there since 2004 and she served as its chair from 2014-2019. She also served as executive director of the Society for Collegiate Journalists from 2014-2018, and was the Illinois Journalism Education Association executive director from 2005-2019. She also serves on the board for the Illinois Press Foundation.

Renaud graduated from the University of Missouri’s Journalism School and worked in sports and news at small newspapers in Missouri and Colorado. She received her master’s degree from Central Missouri State University (now University of Central Missouri) and Ph.D. in journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Before her time at EIU, she served as director of the journalism program and Student Publications, and was the adviser for The Bulletin at Emporia (Kan.) State University from 1995-2004.

Renaud has been a tireless volunteer and leader in College Media Association. She served as president from 2009-2011, vice president of member services from 2001-2003, and currently serves on its Hall of Fame Committee. Since joining CMA in 1995, she has chaired multiple committees including Newspaper, Adviser Awards, Yearbook, and Magazine. She has coordinated sessions and keynotes for CMA’s conventions, had participated in the organization’s critique program, and reviewed articles for its flagship journal, College Media Review. From 2010-2016, Renaud coordinated the “Issues Facing the College Press,” the CMA research panel with the Council of Affiliates held each year at the annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication convention.

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Nils Rosdahl, North Idaho College, 2012

Nils Rosdahl advised The Sentinel newspaper at North Idaho College for more than 20 years before retiring in 2010. He has been fighting the good fight since that first year when the president of his school asked him to censor the news­paper, and he lost his advising job basically because he refused. Soon after, the college had a new president who reinstated Rosdahl.

An exceptional journalism educator and adviser, Rosdahl has a commitment to excellence in journalism, say those who nominated him for the Hall of Fame. A mixture of traditional and nontraditional students have fond memories of their time on the paper’s staff, and they remember the long nights, the CMA conventions and the journalism skills he taught them.

Many of them still use these skills In their media jobs. His bond with his students does not end when they leave the school. One colleague pointed out: “Once you are a Nils Rosdahl student, you are in a perpetual honorable fraternity.”

Students at The Sentinel received numerous awards, including the Associated Collegiate Press’ Pacemaker Award and awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. The paper has also won the Robert F. Kennedy Award three times for its coverage of disadvantaged people.

Rosdahl has been working In newspapers since he was in high school, continuing to work at his college newspaper, then at newspapers in Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. He wrote a business column for more than 20 years for the Spokesman-Review.

He has been active in College Media Advisers and in various two-year college organizations, serving a president of the Community College Journalism Association and the Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators.

Rosdahl has degrees from the universities of Montana and Washington.

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Ken Rosenauer, Missouri Western State University, 2003

Ken Rosenauer was described by one colleague as “fierce in protecting students’ rights,” so much so that he eventually stepped down under pressure from the administration rather than give in to “their demand that the adviser edit and review all student work published in the newspaper.”

Adviser to The Griffon News for 14 years and the Griffon yearbook for four, Rosenauer based his advising on the premise that if students are to learn, they “must have freedom — freedom to learn, freedom to express themselves, freedom even to make mistakes.” A former editor said of him: “He never failed to let us know that we were of value and had potential.” The paper won a Gold Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and many state awards.

Rosenauer was an excellent role model in his commitment to CMA. From 1987 to 1991, Rosenauer organized the on-site critiques, making them a highly successful aspect of each convention. In 1991, Rosenauer became the editor of the CMA Newsletter and in 1997 he became the editor of College Media Review. Under his editorial leadership, first the newsletter, then the magazine have become highly successful, regularly published media. CMR now includes both informative and juried articles and has been elevated to a nationally recognized vehicle for the publication of articles related to advising which are rarely found in other academic journals and which advisers recognize is an important asset to them in their quest for tenure and/or promotion.

In addition to his advising, Rosenauer has also been an outstanding instructor at Missouri Western. He has often taken on new technology and has taught classes in web design and CD production. Although he is considered to be a tough grader, his journalism classes are popular among students and well respected among the faculty. He believes that instructors should be coaches and uses a process writing approach to make that possible.

As Rosenauer himself said, “Advising student publications is among the most demanding, difficult, frustrating and time-consuming activities that a teacher can practice. It is also the most rewarding. I cannot imagine having come a different path.”

Following his induction into the Hall of Fame, Rosenauer served as coordinator of onsite convention services for the Spring National College Media Convention in 2006 and 2007.

He served as CMA president 2007-2009 and immediate past president 2009-2011.

Rosenauer retired from Missouri Western in 2013, ending a 37-year teaching and advising career. He resides with his wife, Janet, in Country Club, Missouri.

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John Ryan, Eastern Illinois University, 2008

John Michael Ryan, former College Media Advisers’ treasurer (1999-2004) and Secretary (1996-1999), is a proven leader in college media circles. Since 1987, Ryan has presented a session at every CMA Fall National Convention, and at many of the Spring conventions since 1989.

He chaired the CMA Newspaper Committee from 1994 to 1996 and co-chaired that committee from 1992 to 1994. He trains and leads students not only on the Eastern Illinois University campus, but also at national, regional and state journalism conventions.

“Cool under pressure, magnanimous with praise, surgically accurate with constructive criticism, and egoless in his instructional application, Dr. Ryan embodies the optimal attributes of a highly effective journalism educator,” wrote Dann Gire, former Eastern News editor and Film Critic for the Chicago Daily Herald. “Ryan … possesses the ideal temperament for teaching journalism, backed up by impressive, real­ world experience for coaching young reporters,” Gire wrote. Ryan worked at The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill as intern, then reporter, then state editor. In 1983-84 Ryan was a local government reporter for The News-Gazette in Champaign, III. Prior to his adviser role at EIU, Ryan taught introduction to journalism, newswriting I and newswriting II, and served as news director at the campus radio/television station, WEIU. He designed and served as the first editor of Heartland magazine, a regional publication he eventually advised.

From 1986 to 2004 Ryan served as editorial adviser to the The Daily Eastern News. As an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor and eventually professor, he taught news editing and design, advanced and beginning reporting, publicity methods and senior seminar classes. As editorial adviser to The Daily Eastern News, the campus daily, he gave the paper’s editor and staff advice on producing a quality daily newspaper. Since 2004 Ryan has directed The Daily Eastern News, the Warbler yearbook, Minority Today and the Vehicle literary magazine.

Through his years of service, Ryan wrote numerous articles for College Media Advisers Newsletter. In 1998 Ryan was awarded a Gold Key Award by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in recognition of outstanding devotion to student press and education.

Ryan served as assistant executive secretary from 1993-2006 and as executive director from 2006-2016 of the Mid-America Press Institute, an organization that produces five continuing education weekend seminars for members at 150 newspapers in 20 states throughout the Midwest.

Ryan received his doctorate in journalism in 2003 from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He holds a master’s degree in English from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL., a master’s in journalism from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, and a bachelor’s in journalism from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston.

Retiring in 2015, Ryan currently serves as president of Eastern Illinois University Annuitants Association and on the board of directors of the Charleston Country Club, where he also serves as club secretary. He stays connected to the Journalism program at Eastern and keeps up with Eastern alumni on social media and at alumni functions. He attended the 2018 CMA convention in Louisville.

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Arthur M. Sanderson, University of South Florida, 1994

Sandy Sanderson was widely acknowledged to have been one of the driving forces that led to the creation of the National Council of College Publications Advisers 60+ years ago. It all started when a group of advisers attending the 1954 national convention of Associated Collegiate Press, of which he had previously served as general manager, asked Dr. Sanderson to help start an association for advisers.

Sanderson was elected the first secretary-treasurer, a position that included serving as editor of a mimeographed journal that eventually evolved into what are now the CMA Newsletter and College Media Review. He worked out of his office at the University of Minnesota until June 1956 when he, and NCCPAs headquarters office, moved to the University of Iowa. His research included one of the first comprehensive national surveys, conducted in 1961, of student media programs.

Freedom and Censorship of the College Press, which he co-authored in 1966, became a frequent reference for advisers, student editors and university administrators. It was in this book that the credo of most media advisers, “Train ’em and trust ’em,” was first presented. His partner in service, also unpaid, was his wife Mars who almost daily helped him respond to inquiries from members and kept the membership list updated.

In 1965 he moved to the University of South Florida to organize a school of journalism and start a student newspaper that in its first year received an ACP Pacemaker Award. Dr. Sanderson’s awards include NCCPAs distinguished service award, selection to the halls of fame of the USF Department of Mass Communications and Florida Community College Press Association, and Honors Lecture to the Secondary Education Division of he Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dr. Sanderson is retired from the University of South Florida as professor emeritus.

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Trum Simmons, Harrisburg Area Community College, 2005

He has “that spark, that concern, that indescribable quality that – in an ideal world – all teachers, advisers and professors would possess. He teaches, he advises, he counsels. In short, he is the best at what he does.”

With these words a former editor of The Fourth Estate, the student newspaper at Harrisburg Area Community College, who went on to become a staff writer for The Washington Post, describes her former adviser, Trum Simmons. HACC’s vice president for student affairs explains why: “Trum uses his role as adviser to teach our students values such as fairness, honesty, responsibility and standing up for what you value… on many occasions our student newspaper’s right to function as a free and independent voice has clashed with the college community’s perception of what a student newspaper should be… To the college community he has reminded us that sometimes that information is not pleasant to hear but needs to be said.”

Simmons has advised The Fourth Estate for more than 30 years. He has led sessions for CMA at the spring and fall conventions for more than 20 years – never missing on participating in the New York conference. He has served on a number of committees over the years, has critiqued for CMA for 20 years and has reviewed manuscripts for College Media Review.

He is also a CMA Two-year Distinguished Newspaper adviser, holds the CSPA Gold Key and is a Community College Journalism Association Hall of Fame inductee.

His advising philosophy is strong: “to nurture the personal growth and development of every member of the staff. Freedom brings an honest publication, not an artificial one produced under carefully controlled conditions … the staff will make mistakes [but] we must remember that this is a student, not a professional experience.”

Numerous former students share their reflections on what they learned from Simmons: “He taught us not only what we needed to know in the classroom and to further our college career, but also what was important to better ourselves in our career paths… He is what a newspaper adviser should be – there for his students and supportive of the decisions they make.”

When Simmons retired in 2014, his editors published an extensive tribute, with encomiums by a dozen former editors from all four decades. The cover line reads, “TFE’s adviser for 41 years, professor and rabble rouser. We’re gonna miss ‘ya!”

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Stacy Sparks, Eastern Illinois University, 2015

Stacy Sparks, a long -term adviser, is an associate professor of journalism and program coordinator for convergent journalism at Southwestern College.

Sparks has advised magazines, student newspapers and yearbooks since 1988 and has taught at Southwestern College since 2006. In addition to serving on the advising team for UpdateSC.org, she is the faculty adviser to The Collegian student newspaper and Moundbuilder yearbook.

She taught at St. Mary of the Plains College from 1988 to 1992 and at Dodge City Community College from 1992 to 2006. Sparks is an associate professor of journalism and teaches photography, media law and media writing.

She is an award-winning photographer and has completed photo workshops in Colorado, Maine, Montana and New Mexico. She has shown her work in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.

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Ron Spielberger, University of Memphis, 1998

For decades, the first contact a new adviser member had with College Media Advisers now Association was with Ron Spielberger, former executive director and headquarters manager. As one colleague put it, his “kind and patient manner, extensive knowledge and sophisticated skills provide a welcoming introduction.”

That welcome is the key to how Ron carried out his responsibilities, “competently, dependably and effectively, with style and a positive attitude and without fanfare or calling attention to himself,” as another adviser noted. No matter what needed to be done for CMA, Ron’s encouragement, attention to detail and wide-range of expertise assure that it is completed on deadline, does not exceed the budget, and is to everyone’s satisfaction. And, of course, all of this is done with a smile and a good sense of humor.

Ron shepherded CMA’s headquarters from 1982 until 2011. He built the operation from one which maintained a dual card file as the only record of membership to a full-service clearing house for information on college student media and advising, with the clear message projected that CMA is a “great organization of very supportive people.”

Ron joined the University of Memphis as an assistant professor of advertising, and in 1970 was appointed advertising adviser for the student newspaper. He has retained an active adviser role, currently serving as technical and advertising adviser to the Daily Helmsman. He was as the Outstanding Advertising Educator of the Year and received the Silver Medal lifetime achievement award from the Memphis Advertising Federation. He has also been honored by the University of Memphis as the Outstanding Adviser in two colleges.

As he himself testified about CMA, “I have learned that part of the job is providing people with what they want when they want it, if at all possible. If not, then to direct them where the information may be available. One must also be a good listener and deal diplomatically with their concerns.”

That defined Ron Spielberger and the superb manner in which he, in turn, defined the role of CMA’s headquarters and emerged as the real continuity for the organization.

Ron passed away in 2015.

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David Swartzlander, Doane College, 2019

David Swartzlander has worked at Doane for 22 years and intends to retire this year. Known familiarly as “Swartz,” he serves as an associate professor of practice in journalism. In addition to teaching, he advises the Doane Owl newspaper, 1014 Magazine and Doaneline, a student-produced website.

From 2011 to 2013, Swartzlander served as CMA president. He also was elected as vice president and served from 2009 to 2011. In addition, Swartzlander was chairman of CMA’s Professional Development Committee and its Research Committee. He has presented numerous times at CMA conventions.

Swartzlander has also served as president and executive director of Nebraska’s Collegiate Media Association. He won the Leadership Nebraska Award bestowed by the Nebraska Press Association for taking his students to Washington, D.C to cover five presidential inaugurations.

He is a graduate of the First Amendment Institute, a former fellow with the Institute for Journalism Excellence and a graduate of the Newsplex Summer Seminar at the University of South Carolina.

Swartzlander wrote the instructor’s manual to Tim Harrower’s “Inside Reporting” textbook and edited the book, “Unforgettable: The Photos of Our Lives” for the Lincoln Journal Star.

Before Doane, Swartzlander reported for daily newspapers in Ohio, Florida, New York and Nebraska, winning several news-writing awards.

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Ann Thorne, Missouri Western University, 2019

Ann Thorne—born in Columbia, Missouri—worked for many years as a professional journalist in Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Joseph, Missouri.

In 1987 she joined the faculty at Missouri Western State University, eventually becoming professor of English and journalism.

During her 25 years at Missouri Western, she advised the University’s yearbook, The Griffon, which received many awards, including Pacemakers, Best of Show, Gold Crowns and Silver Crowns.

At Missouri Western, Thorne received the Jesse Lee Myers Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2005 and was named Regents Distinguished Professor with Distinction in Teaching.

She also received the Missouri Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, one of the highest honors at Missouri Western and across the state, in 2007.

Thorne has a long history with CMA, most significantly on the Yearbook Committee, including a four-year stint as chair–handling programming and doing more than 60 sessions for national conventions, and with her research being published in The College Media Review. She also served as Research Committee chair and Nominations Committee chair. She previously has been honored by CMA, in 1989 as the CMA Four-Year Yearbook Adviser of the Year, with many presidential citations and with a Distinguished Adviser Award. Thorne retired in 2014, becoming professor emerita

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James Tidwell, Eastern Illinois University, 2011

James Tidwell, a First Amendment expert who served CMA for decades, developed a passion for the First Amendment as a result of nearly losing his first advising job because of an editorial printed in the student newspaper. That experience, at Tulsa Junior College in 1976, resulted in Tidwell accepting a position at Indiana University Southeast where he advised the student newspaper. It also influenced him to attend the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, where he graduated cum laude. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and earned his master’s in journalism from the University of Oklahoma.

In 1987, he joined the Eastern Illinois faculty where he has served as the legal adviser to the daily student newspaper, the yearbook and the news operation of WEIU-TV. In 2005, he became the chair of the EIU Journalism Department.

“James is synonymous with college press freedom in Illinois and is in demand for his expertise in media law both in the state and across the nation,” Sally Renaud, EIU colleague, wrote in her nomination letter.

Mark Goodman, former executive director of the Student Press Law Center, wrote, “From the moment I joined CMA in 1985, James (along with CMA legend Louis lngelhart) were the voices I relied on most for support of the SPLC’s work defending student press freedom.”

CMA benefited from Tidwell’s First Amendment passion. He twice served as Media Law Committee chair, developing all the legal sessions at the fall and spring conventions. He has also taught at CMA workshops and decades’ worth of CMA conventions, edited the CMA publication “Keeping Free Presses Free,” and authored numerous legal articles in College Press Review.

Outside of CMA, he wrote for Quill magazine and Journalism and Mass Communication Educator and taught at Illinois College Press Association and Illinois Community College Journalism Association conventions.

He was also the executive director for the Illinois Journalism Education Association from its creation in 1988 through 2004. After he died on April 12, 2014, at age 65 after battling pancreatic cancer, the organization’s top teaching/advising award was renamed in his honor.

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Bonnie Thrasher, Arkansas State University, 2016

Bonnie L. Thrasher was adviser to the A-State Herald at Arkansas State University and former vice president of the College Media Association. Thrasher died March 31, 2015.

For 22 years, Thrasher taught journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and advised the student newspaper, The Herald. Before that, she worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers, including the Starkville (Miss.) Daily News and the Columbus (Miss.) Commercial Dispatch. She also served as interim assistant editor of The Jonesboro Sun.

Thrasher was a member of CMA for more than 20 years, and served on the board of directors for five years. Most recently she served as vice president and coordinated the professionals in residence program for the spring convention in New York City. In 2007, the Arkansas Press Association awarded Thrasher its Journalism Educator of the Year award. The Jonesboro Sun newspaper recognized her as an FOI hero in 2010. She served as secretary/treasurer of the Southeast Journalism Conference and was a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, American Copy Editors Society and the Society of Professional Journalists.

She earned her master’s degree in communication from the University of Alabama and her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Mississippi University for Women.

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Nancy White, Hillsborough Community College, 2001

“There are teachers -and then there are TEACHERS. Nancy White is a TEACHER,” wrote a former editor and award-winning communications professional. A colleague said, “While most advisers are hard-pressed to advise a college newspaper or a college periodical, Nancy does three, and does it with outstanding results, as the publications’ consistent state and national awards testify.”

Nancy G. White, professor and director of student publications at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida, has been recognized for excellent advising by every organization she has joined. The Florida Community College Press Association, the Florida Community College Activities Association and CCJA have inducted her into their Halls of Fame. CMA has named her Distinguished Newspaper Multi-Media Adviser. Columbia Scholastic Press Association presented her with its prestigious Gold Key Award.

She came to CMA conventions for more than 32 years and the newspaper she advised, the Hawkeye, and the two magazines, The Galleria and The Triad, all have been named to the ACP Hall of Fame and have been Pacemakers.

A colleague noted about her: “Always a strong advocate for freedom of the press, Nancy has fought several community college administrators, including two presidents, for her students’ right to publish without prior restraint. She put her job on the line when attempts to educate administrators about censorship failed. She unfailingly supports her students, while teaching them to be responsible, ethical journalists.”

Another says that Nancy’s “knowledge of journalism is vast, and her heart is full of love, and she shares both … wherever one begins in listing all of Nancy White’s achievements, one always must come back to her sheer love of her students. Their best interest is always her first priority.”

A former editor, now an editor at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, capsulized her influence: “On Election Night 2000, 1 was in charge of the copy desk at the Herald-Tribune. As the presidential election results came in, and the winner remained unknown late into the night, I felt the adrenaline rush that makes journalism one of them most exciting careers in existence. I stopped for a moment in the maelstrom of frenzied activity that characterizes a newsroom on such a thrilling night, took a deep breath and thought: “Thank you, Mrs. White.”

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Laura Widmer, 2003

Students are instantly drawn to Laura Widmer because they know she sincerely cares about them and about their education. They want to do their best for her because she does her best for them. One nominator wrote, “She is a fine teacher because she constantly looks for techniques to help students experience whatever she is teaching. Her classes are filled with excitement and interest.”

But she teaches more than textbook lessons as is evidenced by this nominator’s comment. “By example Laura teaches pride in craft, the importance of a strong work ethic, a love of life and creativity.”

As part of the cutting-edge educational opportunities she provides Laura’s students were the first to produce a regional tourism magazine for readers in four states. Now an online publication, Heartland View covers people and places within the crossroads of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. The Northwest Missourian staff made history when it attempted a free city-wide distribution. She had her students have interviewed and filmed dozens of professional journalists for inclusion in a interactive educational CD-ROM. Laura’s inspiration goes beyond the classroom and her students. As a past president of the College Media Advisers, current Special Projects chairperson, past chair of the Yearbook Committee and a recipient of the Distinguished Yearbook Adviser and Distinguished Multi-Media Adviser awards, Laura clearly has the respect of her CMA colleagues.

She’s earned that respect by getting things done. During her term as president, she streamlined the convention contract process, created a committee to redesign the image pieces of the organization, expanded networking with professional journalism organizations, instituted a mentoring project for student journalists through a Shadow a Pro program at conventions and proactively addressed the problem of declining yearbook sales nationwide by helping start a national marketing seminar for yearbook staffs.

In 1987 she created the national Yearbook Workshop and Idea Forum to provide yearbook staffs hands-on training and networking opportunities unique to the college experience. Sixteen years later, her original concept is still intact and the workshop continues to improve the status of college yearbook journalism. She has put Northwest Missouri State University on the map. In addition to the many awards won by the publications she advises, she has been recognized by the Associated Collegiate Press, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association for her work

Laura is a mentor, visionary, resource person, counselor and magnet for excellence for all of us. It’s no wonder one nominator said, “Everybody loves Laura.”

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Mark Witherspoon, Iowa State University, 2010

Mark Witherspoon has been either a professional journalist or a journalism instructor for 44 years. In 32 years of teaching at three universities, he has advised student newspapers, general-interest magazines, literary magazines, yearbooks and video yearbooks.

The media he has advised have continually won national, state and regional awards, including ACP’s Pacemaker, CMA’s Pinnacle, CSPA’s Gold Crown and SPJ’s Best Newspaper awards. In addition, he has won numerous accolades from state, regional and national organizations, including CMA’s Multi-Media Adviser of the Year Award, Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Key Award and Iowa College Media Association’s John Eighmey Award for Public Service. In 2010, he was inducted into CMA’s Hall of Fame.

Witherspoon graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s of journalism in 1975. He earned a master’s degree in education, with an emphasis on First Amendment education, from Iowa State University in 2005.

He worked at the Wichita Falls Record News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a reporter and editor until he became editorial adviser and adjunct professor of journalism at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth in 1987. He continued to work part-time at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram while at TCU and even when he moved to Dallas in 1990 to teach and advise at Southern Methodist University. In 1999, Witherspoon moved to Iowa State University, where he became the first official editorial adviser at the Iowa State Daily and a senior lecturer in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

During his time at Texas Christian University, Witherspoon helped organize Victims of Violence, a national seminar focused on media coverage of violent crimes, and helped program Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conventions. He also worked with Fort Worth elementary and middle schools to establish school newspapers.

While at Southern Methodist University, he became vice president, then president, of College Media Advisers Inc., the national organization for college media advisers. During his presidency, the Advisers’ Advocate program was initiated, and the groundwork was laid for College Broadcasters Inc. to become a sister organization.

Witherspoon helped re-establish the Dallas chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and became its first president. He also worked with several Dallas high schools in improving their school newspapers and with a Dallas elementary school in its writing program.

While at Iowa, Witherspoon helped found the Iowa College Media Association, which he served as executive director and convention director. He has worked with the Iowa Newspaper Association to re-establish the Iowa Community Newspaper Institute, which teaches community newspaper staffs how to improve their news coverage, and to establish an annual Iowa high school journalism conference.

He helped establish an annual First Amendment Day celebration at Iowa State University in 2003 to educate students and faculty about their First Amendment freedoms. The celebration grew into a weeklong celebration in 2005 and is now the longest continual collegiate celebration of the First Amendment in the United States. He also helped establish a First Amendment professor position in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

“While the Iowa State Daily has changed throughout the years, both in its print size and digital reach, there’s been one thing that’s extremely hardworking and consistent: Mark Witherspoon, or “Spoon.” Throughout my four-year tenure at the Daily, Spoon served as both a mentor and friend to me — taking interest in not just my journalistic capabilities but also my well-being. And he did this for everyone, so much so that I often wondered if he had more than 24 hours in a day. Most college newsrooms aren’t lucky enough to have an adviser. If they are, well then they’re not lucky enough to have a Spoon.” Alex Connor, editor in chief of the Iowa State Daily 2018-2019

“As a student journalist, Spoon is the type of adviser you rely on nearly every day. Whether it’s a question on ethics, advice on dealing with a staff issue, figuring out what the heck you want to do with your life or just having someone to talk to, he’s there. But even after your days of student journalism are over, he’s still there. Maybe it’s not everyday conversations, but he’s always available for advice. His lessons always play out in your head even without talking to him. ‘Why use the word plethora? Just keep it simple.’ Or, ‘What benefit does the community receive from knowing this?’ His mentorship impacts me nearly every day in my job. He ingrained in all of us that journalism is about service, not fame or recognition. And even though he always orders beef and bell pepper pizza, I couldn’t have asked for a better adviser as I was learning how to be a journalist.” Emily Blobaum, managing editor for 2017-2018

Witherspoon has worked with College Media Advisers, now called College Media Association, and the First Amendment Center to establish First Things First, a two-pronged program that teaches advisers how to become First Amendment advocates on their campuses and in their communities. The two prongs of this program are the First Amendment Center’s Freedom Sings! program, which went on a college campus tour, and the First Amendment Institute, which teaches college media advisers how to become First Amendment advocates on their campuses and in their communities.

He also has served College Media Advisers as chair or member of its Newspaper, Media Law, First Amendment, Election and Adviser Advocacy committees and as editor of Keeping Free Presses Free.

Witherspoon has presented at countless national, regional and state conventions and led workshops on numerous topics, including reporting and writing, management and First Amendment issues.

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Hall of Fame Members (Listed by year of induction): John A. Boyd, 1994; J. William Click, 1994; Nancy Green, 1994; Louis Ingelhart, 1994; Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, 1994; Reid H. Montgomery Sr., 1994; Marilyn Peterson, 1994; Dario Politella, 1994; Arthur M. Sanderson, 1994; Lesley W. Marcello, 1996; John David Reed, 1996; David Adams, 1997; Les Hyder, 1997; Ronald E. Spielberger, 1998; David L. Knott, 1999; Linda Puntney, 2001; Nancy White, 2001; Ken Rosenauer, 2003; Laura Widmer, 2003; Linda C. Owens, 2005; Trum Simmons, 2005; Robert Adams, 2006; Jan Childress, 2006; Karen Bosley, 2007; Wayne J. Maikranz, 2008; John M. Ryan, 2008; Chris Carroll, 2009; Kathy Lawrence McCarty, 2010; Mark Witherspoon, 2010; William Neville III, 2011; James Tidwell, 2011; Ron Johnson, 2012; Nils Rosdahl, 2012; Stacy Sparks, 2015.