Looking Back:
10 Years of the SOC
Looking back: 10
years of the SOC
10th anniversary
school of communication
10 years
Loyola University Chicago's board of trustees approved the formation of a new school: the School of Communication. It was to begin independent operations beginning in the summer of 2008.
The new headquarters were set to occupy the first three floors of The Clare, a senior independent living facility located just steps away from the University's downtown Law Center, in January of 2009.
An advisory board was made up of alumni, and notable professionals whose purpose was to help the new dean understand the curriculum, establish a network of internships and potential career placements for students, and promote faculty research.
Students who had been studying advertising and public relations, communication, and journalism within the College of Arts and Sciences, where the majors had previously been offered, were moved to the new School of Communication. In order to continue the interdisciplinary program, international film and media, Faculty remained partnered with the College of Arts and Sciences.
These decisions were in response to data gathered by admissions and national trends signifying a demand in Communications studies.
Loyola's then provost, Christine Wiseman, said: "Our location in downtown Chicago is a major advantage as we strive to become Chicago’s premier school of communication, and the first choice for students seeking a unique Jesuit foundation for their careers in communication.”
It's been 10 years since the formation of the School of Communication, whether or not Loyola's SOC succeeded in becoming the "premier" school for comm studies, progress has been made with successes along the way.
Loyola has hired over 40 faculty and staff members and another 41 adjunct professors and lecturers.
In addition to the original three majors, advertising and public relations, communication and journalism, two new majors were created: advertising creative as well as advocacy and social change.
The SOC slowly created five student organizations like AD club, the Beta Rho Honors Society and Inigo, a student run communications firm. Five different student-run media outlets are now available with current technology right at their finger tips.
The convergence studio on the first floor of the Communications building features state of the art newsroom equipment and a full-time TV studio manager to make sure projects run smoothly. The basement offers two Mac computer labs and the OWL lab where students can check out equipment ranging from voice recorders to fully equipped video cameras.
2018 marked the eighth year Loyola's Center for Digital Ethics and Policy hosted the International Symposium on Digital Ethics. The Phoenix has consistently been awarded at the Society of Professional Journalists annual conferences as well as the Illinois College Press Association ceremonies.
To celebrate the past decade, the school set up several events: the WLUW Kick-Off Party, a puppy pop-up, the opening of Pamela Morris' exhibit, Oktoberfest, an alumni take over, and a spring gala.
The Professor Perspective:
Photos by: Carlie Williams
December 13, 2007
The Inaugural Dean
Summer 2008
"I think the job of the dean would be to foster a good relationship and have an independent voice short of libel or slander. The more student media and the freer, the more independent voices the better."
After almost 7 months of searching, the inaugural dean was selected: Don Heider
At the time, Heider was a five-time Emmy award-winning associate professor at Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland with a vision for the new School of Communication.
"The chance of being able to build something new is also exciting. Chicago's a great city. A great journalism city, great communications city [with] advertising/PR. I couldn't think of any better place to have a college of communication as well" he said in a 2008 interview with the Phoenix.
It was his goal to expand the student media Loyola already had and create more opportunities for students. To him, the dean's role is to "support independent media and not try to control but be supportive."
Over the summer of 2018, Heider accepted the position of Executive Director for Santa Clara University's Ethics Center.
In his place, John Slania is the interim dean until a new one is found.
The Loyola Phoenix
Since 1968
Since 1968
Photo by: Hanako Maki
Phoenix staff at the 2017 ICPA awards
The Loyola Phoneix began in 1968 and is the official newspaper for Loyola. It is one of five student-run media outlets available for students to develop and hone their journalism skills.
For several years, the Phoenix staff have submitted pieces to the Illinois College Press Association (ICPA). Schools from across the state with student populations of 4,000 or more compete for recognition and prestige each year. The Phoenix Staff has continuously done well in ICPA since 1998.
Most recently, they took home 23 awards and honors in 2017. The Phoenix earned first-place for a special issue on Chicago gun violence.
Students are responsible for researching, writing, gathering photos and other multimedia themselves. Once an initial draft is complete, they are sent to the editors for corrections and suggestions.
Tuesday nights, staff gather to put the entire paper together making last minute design and copy edits so the finished product can be delivered first thing Wednesday morning.
WLUW 88.7
Since 1978
Photos curtsy of Loyola University Chicago
WLUW is the University's student radio station but it wasn't always Loyola's.
The radio station began in 1978 by Jim Wagner and Michael Russo. Shortly after, Loyola offered funding and support. From 1978 to 2002, Loyola financially kept the radio afloat, but in the mid-1990s, the station changed its formatting in order to become financially independent.
It seemed Loyola wouldn't step back in until 2007 when the Chicago Sun-Times ran an article revealing the University's plan to regain control in June 2008.
In the fall of 2009, the Phoenix reported WLUW would be moving its headquarters from Damen Hall to the third floor of the Terry Student Center.
Although the station is back under Loyola's umbrella, community members can still be a part of the fun by becoming a community DJ, joining their social media pages, or writing/calling in.
Students and community members write and produce their own shows and chose the music genre they want to share.
Rambler Sports Locker
Since 2001
Rambler Sports Locker (RSL), a 15-20 student strong organization on Loyola's Water Tower Campus focuses on something a little different: sports. Students have the week to cover their stories and come together on Thursdays, at 4:30 p.m., to put it all together.
Although there are advisors - Ralph Brasseth the SoC media manager, Jessica Brown a SoC professional in residence, and Jim Collins the TV studio manager - students write, shoot, produce, and edit their own stories and show.
"One of the things I'm really proud of - and it took a long time to happen - is that they are stand alone. They can do their show without us, we just [offer] our comments after the show," Brasseth told reporters.
The final product, a 15-minute episode is uploaded to Youtube to air on Thursdays.
Over the years, Rambler Sports Locker has garnered more attention from the university, specifically the Athletics Department. Last year, when the basketball team traveled to the March Madness competition, in 2017, student Nick Schultz a junior journalism major
was able to travel with them.
"Being there because of RSL, going on camera, breaking down the game. It was crazy," Schultz said, "[I was] rubbing shoulders with the best of the best, I got to meet some of my idols."
Mosaic Magazine
since 2004
In the true spirit of a Jesuit education, Mosaic is Loyola's social justice magazine. It launched in the fall of 2013 with the Advanced Reporting class, comm 315 taught by John Slania. The first magazine was published in the spring of 2004 focusing on the cultural and ethnic life of Chicago. Since then, Mosaic has published 14 magazines ranging in topics from immigration to the economy.
Choosing a topic for this year's edition, mental health, was not a simple task, Editor Betsy Melin wrote that she wanted the topic to hit close to home for not only the mosaic staff, but the readers as well. "Mental health affects all of us, both big and small. As we were deciding, we wanted to ensure that throughout the pieces there were moments of levity and happiness. To show that there is always hope and that there are good things waiting on the other side."
Unlike the Phoenix, WLUW and Rambler Sports Locker, production of the magazine is done within two classes: comm 315, advanced reporting, and comm 328, magazine design and publishing. It was developed as an opportunity for students to integrate their education and give voice to those who may otherwise go unheard. Students are responsible for researching, conducting interviews, gathering multimedia and designing both the website and hard copy issues.
RogersEdge Reporter
Since 2018
Photos by: Julia Barr
College students aren't the only ones flexing their journalistic muscles at Loyola. In the Spring of 2018, Loyola launched the RogersEdge Reporter with the help of After School Matters.
The staff is comprised of Loyola students and Nicholas Senn High school and Roger C. Sullivan High School students who come to work on the publication for a six week paid summer program. They work in the storefront news bureau on Sheridan road four days a week to report on hyper-local Chicago news in the Rogers Park and Edgewater areas.
This collaboration between high school and college is the result of a grant given by After School Matters, a Chicago based non-profit providing students in Chicago Public Schools the part-time jobs in a variety of fields.
During the first week of the program, the 12 students gathered in the news bureau to hear lectures on various journalistic topics, such as reporter ethics, reporting basics and news writing.
John Carpenter, the Bureau Chief, said, “One of my basic goals was to get them to think like journalists, which means two main things: One is being interested in the world around them and looking for interesting stories and helpful stories and important stories, but also being interested in making sure they’re accurate.”
While some stories end up being versions of another publication's story, some are breaking news and original reporting. Loyola senior and RogersEdge Reporter Assistant Editor Israa Alzamli noted an increase in confidence from the student reporters over the past several months.
the Fall
10th anniversary celebrations
WLUW Kickoff Concert
Photos by: Carlie Williams
WLUW kicked off the 2018 fall semester with a concert in Ireland’s Pub. The event featured three bands: The Slaps, The Valley, and Deeper.
"We were thrilled by the amount of people who came out to celebrate with us. Ireland's provided the perfect space for hosting our event, the bands were phenomenal, and most importantly, everyone at the show had a smile on their face," said WLUW General Manager Eleni Prillaman who spent the summer planning this event with staff.
Planning events is a collaborative effort between the departments, students and organizations of the School of Communication. “We’re definitely celebrating who we are but we also want to show off who we are so that other people notice us," SOC Event Planner, Genevieve Buthod said.
"None of this would have been possible without the tireless efforts of the WLUW student managers,' Prillaman said. "I feel so lucky to work with such an amazing staff and look forward to hosting another concert like this next year."
Food, beats, drinks, and friends surly drew people into the basement of Damen, but that wasn't all some of the attendees were after. A trip to Iceland was being raffled off with the opportunity to attend Iceland Airwaves, a music festival in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The Iceland trip also included lodging and "72 Hours Reykjavik Welcome Cards" providing free access to world famous thermal pools, museums, public transportation, plus various retail discounts. The winner was Hannah Masters, a student at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
“While being able to listen to new music was a definite draw, the chance to win a free trip to Iceland was too good to pass up,” Senior Kelsey Johnson-Davis said.
The 40th anniversary Kick-Off Concert ended on a high with student’s enjoying the music on a makeshift dance floor. Sam Hudock, WLUW’s Promotions Director, said putting together this event had become his favorite project since he got started with the radio station two years ago.
“This event was very fun, we’ve worked on this all summer whether it’s from deciding where we’re gonna put it, to the numerous meetings for logistics, to making a brand image,” Hudock said. “It took us a lot of work and a lot of thought, so this is our proud moment.”
The WLUW are looking forward to next year's event and hope that they will actually be able to have a concert on the quad, weather permitting.
Puppy Pop-Up
Photos by: Carlie Williams
Loyola partnered with the Anti-Cruelty Society to bring students a few puppies to play with during their class breaks. The idea came from the School of Communication's student ambassadors who suggested that animals coming to the school would be fun but also beneficial to students who may be stressed.
Piper, a two month old terrier had to be wrapped in a blanket the entire time students, staff and faculty cooed over her while the black labs, Bonnie and Essie who were also two months old, ran from person to person. Shiba, the chihuahua-terrier mix was confined mostly to a separate playpen when she became too excited by the crowd.
Student faces instantly lit up when they noticed the canine friends scampering about and stopped to pet a few or simply look.
According to the Anti-Cruelty Society volunteers, Bonnie, Essie, and Shiba were available for adoption but little Piper had a few months left in foster care.
The volunteers explained the average stay for dogs at the shelter is 3 weeks while cats typically spend 2 weeks in the shelter before finding forever-homes.
Students interested in volunteering with the Anti-Cruelty Society can visit their website at anticruelty.org to assist in events or on site volunteering.
Snapshots of Culture
Photos by: Carlie Williams
Pamela Morris, a professor at Loyola, showcased a 60-piece art installation on the walls of the School of Communication’s lobby, first and second floors. The entire series took 10 years to put together and includes more than 1,000 photos from roughly 14 countries in total, she calls the project a “snapshot of culture.”
The project looks specifically at the language, products and depictions of men and women within advertisements look at the differences in culture. Although the SoC installation is simply a fraction of what the entire project has to offer, viewers are still able to piece together the same thing Morris did when using these images and data she gathered to write her second dissertation.
“I really believe in this, women should be equal. I just don’t get some of these differences,” she said. “When you look at the subtle differences [in advertisements] you can see that Eastern-European women are [depicted] stronger and not objectified as much, In one way they still have to be sexy but they are shown in work positions.”
Morris hopes that in looking at these images, students will be inclined to delve deeper into the questions and themes depicted so they can put their skills and research together to look more into it.
Octoberfest
Photos by: Carlie Williams
Students, faculty and staff gathered on the first floor of the SOC building for the 10th Annual Octoberfest. Guests enjoyed live music from an accordion player, food and refreshments to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the School of Communication and celebrate tradition.
“Octoberfest is my favorite event to mingle with both students and professors in an open setting provided by SOC. Plus, the food was great which made everything better” junior Advocacy and Social Change major, Mckenzie Carter said.
Octoberfest is Loyola’s spin on the a traditional German folk festival, Oktoberfest, which is now celebrated around the globe. It’s become the world’s largest Volksfest which is an event that usually combines a beer festival, wine festival and travel funfair. Germany’s Oktoberfest is celebrated by nearly 6 million people and lasts sixteen to eighteen days from mid to late September to the first weekend in October.
Each year, since the School of Communication’s opening in 2008, the festival has been celebrated with bratwurst, beer, folk music, and camaraderie. It’s a time to mingle with students, professors and even the dean. It’s one of the many ways students are able to interact with the school’s faculty and staff in a deeper way.