A dream come true…
January 23, 2008 by Samir Husni
The Department of Journalism is on its way to become a School of Journalism. The proposal to establish the new school is on the Institute of Higher Learning’s board agenda for their Feb. meeting. The generosity of our Advisory Board member and former faculty member Dr. Ed Meek and his wife Becky played a major role in making this dream come true. The couple contributed $5.3 million dollars to the department of journalism in order to help the department’s transition to a school. Watch the press conference announcing the School of Journalism here. Once the proposal is approved by the IHL Board, the plans call for the department to continue to be part of the College of Liberal Arts until June 30, 2008. By the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1 the School of Journalism (together with a new name and a renewed mission) will start operating as a stand- alone school at Ole Miss, same as the School of Law, School of Business Administration and School of Engineering. As we prepare to take this big step forward we want to involve all of you, alumni and friends, in helping us shape the new mission of our school. We welcome your comments and your advice. Journalism education is changing the same way the media is changing. Today’s media landscape in unlike any media landscape we’ve witnessed before. Innovation and change are the two key words that define our present and future. Building on a strong history of writing, reporting, editing and a great sense of news judgment, we are ready to move forward to be on the forefront of tomorrow’s media today. We invite you to join the conversation and to be a major part of our future today.
The MBlog is our way to interact with you on a regular basis, to inform you of what is going on in the department, and to provide you with a forum for debate and advice…we will keep you posted and we welcome your comments 24/7…Let the debate begin. After all, it is the Year of the Debate at Ole Miss.
Seeing a classmate succeed is definitely exciting but when ones such as Ed and Becky Meek have been so generous in sharing their successes with Ole Miss, that’s true unselfishness and real inspiration!
As a student at Ole Miss, I looked forward very much to every new day that arose for me. We never knew what to expect, and, at the same time, we were never disappointed in what happened next. Those long days in the classroom in Farley Hall and those long nights in the basement of Farley working at the Daily Mississippian were some of the best days of my college life. I am certain I would not be where I am today without such a wonderful journalism program at Ole Miss. I’m glad to see very soon the program will become a stand-alone school of its own. Dr. Husni is a great leader, and it should be an interesting time for the School of Journalism and the University over the next few years.
Congrats! This is very exciting for Ole Miss Journalism! I look forward to hearing about the changes and the successes of the School of Journalism in the future.