On March 6, the KU community will come together for One Day. One KU., KU’s 24-hour day of giving. Collectively, we can ignite the next BIG IDEA at KU. Now in its 7th year, One Day. One KU. has raised more than $13 million to transform lives at KU across all five campuses and The University of Kansas Health System. Join us on March 6 and feel the impact of everyone, united in purpose for KU. Sign up to be an ambassador and encourage others to make a gift on March 6. The next BIG IDEA starts with you!

Learn more about the priorities of the JMC School for One Day. One KU. on the website. Watch this video interview with former JMC faculty member Larry Day to learn about the one-for-one match he and his family will do on March 6 to support study abroad experiences for KU JMC students.

JMC freshman Jake Feightner operates the booth camera. | Photo courtesy of Cal Butcher

KU JMC students covered the Rivalry at the Rink from all angles last week. Senior Blake Sevenbergen produced and directed the live stream with senior Gabe Daniel and sophomore Ryan Karpman on the call. Sophomore Lindsay Ryan handled rink-side reporting, and freshman Jake Feightner ran the booth camera. Former national champion Chris Teahan even stopped by the booth. KU pulled out an exciting 6-4 win over rival Missouri.

C.J. Moore – 2007 KU JMC School graduate and staff writer for The Athletic – was a guest speaker for JMC 430 – Communicating Sports Information – Monday, Feb. 26. Moore discussed communicating sports information with the class. Moore (back center of photo) is pictured with the class on the right.  

Records Manager Kim Murphree and Sgt. Drew Fennelly from the Lawrence Police Department and Kevin Joles from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical visited the JMC 551 and 553 classes on Wednesday to talk about records requests and how best to get information from public agencies.

JMC School senior Holly Kersgieter scored a season-high 26 points for the Kansas women’s basketball team in a senior day victory over Big 12 champion Oklahoma. JMC students Katie Acosta and Kara Lyons called the game for KJHK.

Sports journalist Kevin Blackistone will give the keynote address at the Seventh Annual Race and Sports Symposium on Wednesday, March 6 from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Jayhawk Welcome Center. More information on the event is available here. The event will also feature a panel discussion with two former KU student-athletes. 

March 9 deadline to apply for Society of Professional Journalists scholarships: The Kansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has $10,500 available in scholarship opportunities for sophomores, juniors and seniors for the 2024-25 academic year. The deadline to apply is March 9. Visit this website for more information.

The University of Stirling study abroad program is available this summer. Students will travel to Stirling, Scotland and enroll in JMC 500 Topics in Journalism: Media and Culture in Scotland, and optionally one course taught by the University of Stirling from June 8 to July 6, 2024. The deadline to apply is March 8. Visit the KU Study Abroad website for more information on the program and to apply now. 

The KC Ad Club’s 2024-25 Foundation Scholarship application is now open. The scholarship has been awarded for over 30 years and helps students set themselves apart from their peers and get involved in the thriving Kansas City advertising community. Current sophomores and juniors interested in marketing, graphic arts and related fields are encouraged to apply. If selected, you will receive a $2,500 scholarship, a dedicated mentor and free membership to KC Ad Club events for a year. Deadline is March 15. Learn more and apply.

School of Business DEIB team hosts conference designed to prepare students to effectively engage with a diverse workforce: The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Leadership Summit (IDEALS) is for all KU students and features workshops, networking and panel discussions 

to view diversity through its numerous lenses. The summit will be from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, March 8, at Capitol Federal Hall. There is no cost to attend, and meals will be provided. Register today. 

Junior Natalie Pursche presents at the University of Oklahoma. | Photo courtesy of Melissa Greene-Blye. 

JMC School student Natalie Pursche presented at the AEJMC Midwinter Conference at the University of Oklahoma last weekend. Pursche, a junior in the multimedia journalism concentration, is an undergraduate research assistant working with Assistant Professor Melissa Greene-Blye on a research project titled “From the Voices of the People Who Live the Life: How Jeanie Greene’s Heartbeat Alaska Allowed Native Alaskans to Counter Media Broadcast Misrepresentation.” 

Associate Dean for Student Success Scott Reinardy was interviewed in this article by The Guardian that discusses co-operative newsrooms.

Associate Professor Teri Finneman’s new podcast, The First Ladies, has now launched for Women’s History Month. The 14-episode first season releasing between now and September explores topics such as why studying first ladies matters, first ladies in wartime, first ladies in film and first ladies and international diplomacy. JMC School alumna Bella Koscal heads the audio production.

Assistant Professors Jeff Conlin and Vaibhav Diwanji have been selected as recipients of the KU General Research Fund in AY2024-2025. Dr. Colin’s project will experimentally test the effects of motivational messages, candidate orientations and contextual image cues to persuade voters about a candidate’s pro-environmental issue positions in 2024 U.S. Congressional elections. Dr. Diwanji’s project explores the application of gamification as an intervention to promote consumer sustainability awareness, commitment, and circular value chain management with transdisciplinary implications for education and practice.

Associate Professor Mugur Geana has been elected to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.

Associate Professor Mugur Geana's co-authored paper "Pandemic Antecedents - Exploring Predictivity and Relationships Between COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake and Influenza, Shingles, and HPV Vaccination" has been accepted for publication in the journal Vaccine. The research was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Monique Luisi from the University of Missouri (fist author) and KU doctoral candidate Jun Pei. The study explores the behaviors and beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine and their influence on the decision to accept elective vaccines for self and dependent children. 

The Journalism and Mass Communications Career Fair on Thursday attracted 125 students and 23 organizations. The largest class represented was the May class of 2026 with 39 students, followed by May 2025 (36) and May 2024 (23). The most popular concentrations were digital marketing communications and public relations with 57 students and multimedia journalism with 35. Sixty-five photos were taken at the LinkedIn photo booth.

Internship and student jobs

Job opportunities

The family of Barbara White Walker is hosting a memorial for Walker, who died March 5, 2023 at age 86. She was the daughter of noted journalist and author William Lindsay White and the wife Katherine Klinkenberg White, and the granddaughter of William Allen White. The Emporia Gazette details Barbara's legacy here. 

James Banman died Dec. 9 at age 88. Read his obituary.

Owen Pierce died Feb. 17 at age 69. Read his obituary.

Calendar

William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications
journalism.ku.edu

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