Indiana University School of Journalism

Home » Alumni News » Alumni reminisce, hear about Pyle’s D.C. experiences at Road Show

Photo by Robb Hill

From left, Michael Brennan, BA’62, Dan Thomasson, BS’56, and Mace Broide, BA’47, chatted during the journalism reception. Brennan won a raffle for free lodging during the Sept. 16-18 Centennial Weekend.

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The School of Journalism’s Centennial Road Show in Washington, D.C., April 12 brought together about 50 area alumni from the classes of 1947 to 2010 for an evening of reminiscing, reconnecting and hearing about Ernie Pyle.

The event, one of several planned for this year as IU celebrates 100 years of journalism, was at the National Press Club, where a separate “We Are IU” reception open to all alumni preceded the journalism Road Show. Some journalism alumni who attended that event heard journalism alumnus and Pulitzer Prize winner Michel du Cille, BA’85, introduce IU President Michael McRobbie.

During the journalism Road Show afterward, Dean Brad Hamm welcomed the attendees and associate professor Owen Johnson talked a bit about Ernie Pyle, the World War II correspondent who studied journalism at IU.

Johnson said Pyle worked at the Washington Daily News in the 1920s and 1930s, where he reported on the aviation industry, among other beats, copy edited and eventually became managing editor. Johnson also read from Pyle’s own reminiscences about IU.

Pyle wrote that “ex-students” don’t often mention remarkable professors or buildings or equipment. Instead, Pyle said, they reminisce “of spring days when the campus is bursting with fragrance, vivid with the color of blossoms and new leaves, and when the moon is bright—it is undeniable that spring is nowhere in the world as it is at Indiana,” or fall football games played by men everyone knows.

“These persons who make such broad unqualified statements about Indiana say that they have since tried out living in many other places but that somehow the tang is missing. Other schools can contain nothing after such moments,” said Johnson, reading Pyle’s words.

To add to Pyle’s reminiscence, attendee Erica Ballard, BAJ’08, collected these comments from alumni at the reception:

Photo by Robb Hill

From left, Whitney Mitchell, BAJ’08, Katie Myrick, BAJ’10, and Kate Middleton, BAJ'09, compare notes about life in D.C.

“It is important to know how to communicate effectively and efficiently with your peers and colleagues. The journalism school prepared me to be able to do that. My education there was essential for making that happen.”
Lindsay Pollack, BAJ’09, now an immigrant paralegal at Maggio + Kattar

“The teachers I had there shaped how I taught. Dick Yoakam, Cleve Wilhoit, Gretchen Kemp – all these teachers shaped me to be the teachers they were. This event was my first opportunity to attend a journalism event, and it’s giving me a chance to see people.”
Tom Bowers, BA’64, MA’69, PhD’71, retired professor of journalism at University of North Carolina

“You would have a hard time finding a program that leaves its graduates more well-rounded and prepared for the future of journalism than the Indiana J school does. I'm really proud to call myself an alumnus. In the few years since I graduated, I've seen so many of my classmates take jobs with some of the finest publications and organizations in the world. Considering the job market recent graduates have had to face, I think that's really remarkable.”
Eric Smith, BAJ’07, political researcher at IMS, Inc.

“This is a city that values experience, insight and creativity in solving some of the world’s most pressing issues. Each day, I feel extremely fortunate to have studied at the School of Journalism, a community that believes in building a support group of talented peers and mentors to guide our students through their four years at IU.

Photo by Robb Hill

From left, Rob Pongsjapan, BS’01, and Asma Khalid, BAJ’06, talk during the Road Show April 12.

“… My experience in Kenya reporting on HIV/AIDS and the knowledge and insight I gained from my travels was one of the main reasons I was hired at APCO Worldwide as a member of its healthcare practice.”
Clare Krusing, BAJ’10, junior associate at APCO Worldwide

“People ask, ‘how do you change people’s lives?’ In one simple way: We figure out how to take them abroad. We have the biggest international program in of all the IU campuses.”
Dean Brad Hamm

The Centennial Road Shows continue May 17 with a celebration at the Helmsley Hotel in New York City. The centennial celebration wraps up with a weekend of events in Bloomington Sept. 16-18.

More:

• Register to attend the New York event.
• Plan to attend the Centennial Weekend in Bloomington Sept. 16-18.
• Read about the year-long centennial.
• Check out alumni “Memories” and contribute your own thoughts.
• Contact School of Journalism communications director Beth Moellers for more info.

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