Reynolds School of Journalism Dean Al Stavitsky shares the highlights of fall 2020. Students and faculty rose to the challenges of the moment, creating impactful content related to the pandemic, the 2020 election and diversity and inclusion.
Hi, I'm Al Stavitsky, dean of the Reynolds School, and welcome to our fall semester in review.
Like all of you, we adapted to the changing conditions of the pandemic. While most instruction was held online, there were some in-person journalism courses, too, taught under masking and distancing guidelines.
Our students and faculty rose to the challenges of the moment. Wolf Pack Relations, our student agency led by professors Todd Felts and Alison Gaulden, created a social media campaign for the City of Reno. The goal was to encourage college students to follow precautions in order to keep family members and friends safe. Noticiero Móvil, with editor Claudia Cruz, held live Facebook events in Spanish, in partnership with the School of Medicine to answer community questions about COVID-19. And students in professor Nico Colombant's election reporting class covered the national, state and local races.
Our faculty continued their leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion. Professor Myrton Running Wolf worked with local Native American students on a video campaign to encourage Native communities to vote. Professor Caesar Andrews was named to the inaugural board of directors of Journal-isms, an influential nonprofit dedicated to promoting diversity in the news industry. Prominent editor Wanda Lloyd made a virtual visit to campus, meeting with students, faculty and community members over the course of a week to share her experiences rising from Jim Crow-era segregation to the highest levels of U.S. journalism.
Our popular student documentary film festival went on as ever, this time on Zoom and Facebook. It featured five short films from students in professor Kari Barber's doc class.
I was invited to share our innovative approach to the semester with a group of Chinese journalism deans, who were meeting in Beijing.
We closed the semester by honoring our small but mighty class of fall semester graduates at a virtual reception to celebrate their achievement and resilience.
Who knows what we'll accomplish next semester! We look forward to welcoming you back to the Reynold School when the time is right. Until then, stay safe, be well and enjoy the holiday.
