SoJ Web Report | Aug. 29, 2008
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| Photo by Gena Asher |
| Lecturer Beth Wood (right) chats with new Ernie Pyle Scholars at a reception Thursday. Eighteen freshmen make up the third class of honors students. |
But the third class of students in the School of Journalism’s honors program also includes a four-year member of the American Civil Liberties Union, a student whose DVD based on his volunteer work is used as a tool by a social service agency, a student with a black belt in karate, a playwright and a two-time 4-H tin punch champion.
The varied experiences of these students, both individually and as a group, create diversity among these members of the class of 2012. One of the aims of the program, created three years ago, is to provide journalism experiences to the program’s high achievers.
“These 18 new students were chosen from a pool of applicants twice as large as in previous years,” professor Dave Boeyink told the audience at a reception for Ernie Pyle Scholars Thursday in the Weil Journalism Library. “The average SAT score among the 18 new scholars is 1356, ACT is 30.3 and GPA is 3.88.”
As he introduced the students, those statistics bore out. Among the group are a Wells Scholar, a Cox Scholar, two IU Hutton Honors College scholars and several with state scholarships. Many also had attended HSJI during high school and picked up an array of awards and honors there.
Armed with talent, students will be challenged to make the most of the opportunities ahead. School of Journalism Dean Brad Hamm recounted the summer’s experiences of the first group of scholars who spent eight weeks working in London this summer.
“As important as classes are, we’d like to encourage you to spend time outside class in programs that take you abroad,” he said, describing the Summer in London program and two semester-long courses, In the Footsteps of Ernie Pyle and International Public Relations. The Ernie Pyle class spent spring break in England and France while the PR class toured Japan’s media organizations.
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| Photo by Gena Asher |
| New scholar Ashley DeRousse and Riley Visiting Professor Dennis Elliott talked about classes and life at Ernie Pyle Hall. |
About a dozen of the students, however, already knew one another.
“Over the summer, I created a Facebook group and about 12 people found it,” said Elizabeth Carson. “Of those, about five of us have been talking regularly.”
Now that they’re face-to-face, scholars will attend some classes and special programs as a group. The two previous classes have traveled to network with alumni or attend special programs or workshops or have been invited to special events at the school.
