This will result in the creation of a new hybrid/flexible, state-of-the-art classroom (see architectural rendering above), which will open in Spring 2026, and a renovated main corridor, plus updated flooring throughout, including in faculty offices.
See photos depicting the original spaces, the renovation process, and the architectural renderings.
Gregory Hall Lower-Level Corridor
Before Renovations
Substantial work in the lower level of Gregory Hall has not occurred since the 1990s. See photos of the original corridor and a faculty office.
Gregory Hall lower level corridor before renovations
Gregory Hall lower level corridor before renovations
Gregory Hall lower level faculty office before renovations
Renovation Progress
Renovations included painted walls throughout the entire hallway, including the east and west wings, new lighting, and new flooring, including in faculty offices.
Painting primer in the hallways
Painting in the hallways
Lights installed and floor removed
Floor removal process
Floor mitigated, walls painted, lights in, and portals built
Crown molding detail
New floor installed in hallway
New carpet installed in faculty office
Ceiling tiles installed
First day of Fall 2025 classes
Architectural Rendering
The corridor renovations will be complete by the start of Fall 2025. By Spring 2026, new digital signage will be installed in place of bulletin boards that previously lined the walls.
Gregory Hall Room 1
Before Renovations
Rooms 1, 2, and 3 on the east wing were two smaller classrooms and a faculty office.
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, and 3 before renovation
Gregory Hall Room 1 before renovation
Gregory Hall Room 2 faculty office moving out before renovation
Gregory Hall Room 3 before renovation
Renovation Progress
Renovations included knocking down walls to combine Rooms 1, 2, and 3 into a new hybrid/flexible, state-of-the-art classroom.
Gregory Hall Room 1 after demo
Gregory Hall Room 2 after demo
Gregory Hall Room 3 after demo
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, 3 after demo, from hallway
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, 3 after demo
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, 3 after demo, from northwest corner
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, 3, looking south, with the last wall knocked down
Architectural Renderings
By Spring 2026, Room 1 will offer classes by all three departments in the College of Media, supporting activities such as advertising brand consultations, journalism press conferences, and media and cinema studies production, and will enable hybrid teaching and conferencing.
—Photos by Meghan Burnett and Holly Rushakoff. Architectural renderings by Reifsteck Wakefield Fanning.
It’s no surprise that renowned media studies scholar and two-time University of Illinois alum Denise Bielby (BS ’71, MA ’72, ACES), Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was interested in fellow alum Roger Ebert’s work and helping preserve his legacy.
Bielby, whose research focuses on the culture-producing industries of film and television, has had a long appreciation for the scholarly value that the late Roger Ebert, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and journalism alum, brought to film criticism.
Bielby said it was important to support the research of faculty in the College of Media, and the training of their graduate and undergraduate students.
“Denise Bielby’s generosity is a distinct example of a transformative gift,” said Tracy Sulkin, dean of the College of Media. “The Ebert Center cements the College of Media as a supportive and enriching destination for academics pursuing film studies.”
After attending Ebertfest regularly, Bielby observed that “Roger’s thematic programming for each festival was not only intriguing, it was culturally important, and over time the scholarly value of that came into focus and relevant to how scholars understand and analyze the social value of film.”
At the launch of the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies at the University of Illinois on October 28, 2022, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese shared a recorded message. (Photo by J. Sidney Malone.)
Bielby’s own research on media fandom developed as an outgrowth to her research on the film industry.
“Because Hollywood produces culture through its products, I wanted to better understand the process of audience reception that made media so engaging,” she said. She has co-authored two books, Global TV: Exporting Television and Culture in the World Market (2008) and Soap Fans: Pursuing Pleasure and Making Meaning in Everyday Life (1995).
Since its inception, the Ebert Center has offered robust programming, including the annual Ebert Lecture in the fall, the annual Ebert Symposium in the spring with a keynote and roundtable discussions, and a curated screening series throughout the academic year.
It also supports Ebert Center research grants and travel grants for film studies as well as the long-running Ebert Fellows Program, which selects three undergraduate students from the College of Media each year for an in-depth experiential learning opportunity.
Ebert Fellows work with advisor and mentor Michael Phillips, the film critic at the Chicago Tribune. They hone their writing and interviewing skills, sharpen their critical skills, attend film festivals, develop their podcasting skills with Chicago Public Radio and Illinois Public Media, and participate in other workshops and activities, including those in conjunction with the Ebert Center.
In addition to supporting Media faculty and students, Bielby hopes the Ebert Center is set up to accomplish another goal: “To advance the scope of the college more broadly as it engages related disciplines, the campus at large, and society as a whole.”
The Ebert Center programming is free and open to the public. Learn more and watch recordings of past events at media.illinois.edu/ebertcenter.
From her standing desk at her home office in Northern California, Marilynn Preston (BS ’67, journalism)—journalist, healthy lifestyle expert, and Emmy-winning TV producer—spoke with zeal about the role health and wellness has played in her life and why she’s inspired to share her passion with students in the College of Media.
“Media is so changed now as a profession. It’s a high-risk, high-stress profession that you have to train for in a way that just didn’t exist before,” Preston said. “If journalism students can learn these valuable self-care skills in college, calming their minds and strengthening their ability to focus and perform under pressure, they can benefit and thrive for the rest of their life.”
Preston’s generous support of a multi-year series on wellness and self-care is aimed at helping nurture students while on campus and prepare them for a career in a demanding field that can take a physical and emotional toll on its professionals.
Deadlines, covering traumatic events, and avoiding burnout are just a few of the stressors a journalist may face throughout their career.
I”m just so grateful that the College of Media sees the value of self-care as a way to deal with anxiety in these destabilizing times. I hope to see the self-care program grow and pick up steam. It’s a great new initiative and I’m excited to see where it goes.
Marilynn Preston
(BS ’67, journalism)
So far, two wellness events have been organized through the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media—a well-being open house for students in Spring 2024 and a breath workshop and presentation with James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, in Fall 2024.
Another wellness event for Media students is planned for this spring, focusing on the power of nasal breathing and stress reduction. College of Media faculty and staff are also welcome at these events.
“I’m just so grateful that the College of Media sees the value of self-care as a way to deal with anxiety in these destabilizing times. I hope to see the self-care program grow and pick up steam. It’s a great new initiative and I’m excited to see where it goes,” she said.
Preston is a verifiable expert when it comes to the subject of health and personal well-being.
She’s the creator of Energy Express, America’s longest-running syndicated fitness column that ran for 43 years, reaching millions of newspaper readers across the country. She’s had three books published, with her most recent deemed an Amazon best-seller.
She also created, wrote, and produced the Energy Express TV series beginning in the 1990s that ran in 120 cities, won two Emmys, and a Women’s Sports Foundation award.
A trailblazer in her field, Preston started writing about personal wellness and the mind-body connection as a feature writer at the Chicago Tribune, back whenlife-changing practices like meditation and yoga were just beginning to capture people’s attention.
“In Chicago in 1976, yoga and yogurt were interchangeable terms,” she said.
Preston says her columns were about “having fun and staying healthy,” and they covered a myriad of topics, from injury prevention and weight-loss to integrative medicine and holistic healthcare.
She shares the same ideas in her books, Dear Dr. Jock: The People’s Guide to Sports and Fitness; Work Well, Be Well; and All Is Well: The Art {and Science} of Personal Well-being. Her publisher asked her to write a second edition of All Is Well during Covid and now Preston considers it her most valuable book. “Covid turned our lives upside down, and learning to prioritize self-care is something we’re all still struggling with.”
UIPD Therapy K9 Huff was a featured attraction at the College of Media Well-Being Open House for students in Spring 2024. (Photo by Nathan Gonzalez, photography intern.)
Preston recommends simple routines like walking outdoors in nature and even taking quick naps, habits that have been measured and proven to be beneficial to a person’s health.
In recent years, she’s discovered that breathwork and meaningful in-person connections can have a huge impact on overall health and wellness, much greater than scientists ever realized.
“Find a way to experience fun, joy, and pleasure because if you value your own well-being, that becomes your North Star for life” she said.
In addition to supporting College of Media students, Preston also serves on the board of a nonprofit organization in Chicago called Girls in the Game, which works with girls in under-resourced neighborhoods to provide them with exposure to sports, fitness, leadership, and team play. Recently, she’s helped GIG focus on teaching self-care skills to the girls—practices like breathing, journaling, and mindful movement—and the girls are very happy to have these new ways to handle stress and anxiety.
While Preston recognizes the current journalism landscape presents new and difficult challenges, she’s still thinks “it’s a wonderful time to be a journalist because the country has to heal, and journalists can help with that.”
Speaking from her own personal experience, Preston is grateful journalism provided her with the opportunity to educate so many people throughout her career and, hopefully, transform lives.
“Journalism can be a wonderful ticket to ride and see the world and write about things you care about and help people build better lives,” Preston said. “Helping others get through these confusing times is more important than ever.”
With their latest $2.5 million donation, Richard and Leslie Frank increased their historic gift to the College of Media to upgrade classrooms on the lower level of Gregory Hall.
The couple’s latest $2.5 million donation will fund the renovation of classrooms on the lower level of Gregory Hall, located on the University of Illinois Quad, and will create a new hybrid, flexible classroom as the centerpiece.
The new funding will enable a substantial renovation of the lower level of Gregory Hall, with the creation of a new hybrid, flexible, or hyflex, classroom as the centerpiece.
The new multipurpose classroom, which will be constructed in the space that currently houses two smaller classrooms and an office, will boast features that all three departments in the College of Media will be able to take advantage of—such as advertising brand consultations, journalism press conferences, and media and cinema studies production—and enable hybrid teaching and conferencing.
“Because we believe in the fundamental impact that media has on our society, we want to continue to invest in our future media leaders at the University of Illinois,” said Rich Frank. “We’re excited to establish a new state-of-the-art space that will support the excellence of the College of Media, and we hope to inspire other donors to make gifts that leave a lasting impact on the college.”
The gift will also renovate the lower level, featuring a more modern design such as new flooring, painted walls throughout the entire hallway, including the east and west wings, and digital signage. Substantial work in that part of Gregory Hall has not occurred since the 1990s. The project details are underway; work will begin in summer 2025.
The College of Media is deeply thankful to Richard and Leslie Frank for their generous investments that not only have expanded opportunities for our current students and faculty but will continue to facilitate an enriched experience for those to come.
Tracy Sulkin
Dean of the College of Media
“This new gift will create a showpiece in Gregory Hall,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “The College of Media is deeply thankful to Richard and Leslie Frank for their generous investments that not only have expanded opportunities for our current students and faculty but will continue to facilitate an enriched experience for those to come.”
Having each experienced professional success in media and entertainment, the Franks are committed to creating a positive impact in media for generations.
Rich Frank, who received his bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Illinois, began his career at the advertising agency BBDO in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to work as a Sales Manager at KTLA. He then served as President of Chris-Craft Broadcasting. In 1977 he became President of Paramount Television Group, overseeing the creation and production of such shows as Taxi, Family Ties, and Cheers as well as the creation of the groundbreaking entertainment news show, Entertainment Tonight. In 1985 he became President of Disney Studios. Under his leadership, the studio created iconic sitcoms such as The Golden Girls and Home Improvement, and films including Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, andThe Lion King. He also oversaw the launch of the Disney Channel. Rich served three terms as President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2007, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized him with the prestigious Syd Cassyd Founder’s Award. In 2011, Rich received an honorary doctorate from the American Film Institute where he is currently a Vice Chairman on the AFI’s Board of Directors. Rich previously served on the board of the Motion Picture Association of America. His archival interview with the Television Academy provides a fascinating historical perspective of the evolution of modern television: https://bit.ly/3iQvS7s.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Leslie Frank began her career in Canada before crossing the border to work in some of the largest television markets in the United States. She spent more than 25 years covering many major stories including the 9/11 attacks, where she reported live from ground zero in New York City, as well as from the scene of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and inside the courtroom at the Michael Jackson trial. Leslie spent the last nine years of her TV news career reporting and anchoring at the number one rated station, KABC in Los Angeles, where she covered politics, crime, weather calamities, as well as interviewing some of the biggest stars in Hollywood on the red carpet. Prior to Los Angeles, Leslie was the main anchor at KCPQ in Seattle, where she took the 10 pm newscast to number one in its time slot and clinched an Emmy for outstanding news anchor. In 2024, she joined the board of directors of Treasury Wine Estates Ltd.
Leslie and Richard are former owners of Frank Family Vineyards, a highly acclaimed luxury wine business based in the Napa Valley, California, that was acquired by Treasury Wine Estates in 2021.
Under the leadership of its inaugural director, Colleen King, clinical assistant professor of journalism, the Frank Center has brought media industry leaders to campus for free and public events including Steve Kornacki, Brian Williams, and on December 3, NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd. The Frank Center has also held virtual Q&As with Kara Swisher, Michael Steele, and Dan Balz. See recordings of these conversations with the Frank Center.
A group of journalism students heard harrowing stories from the local women they interviewed while filming a documentary about period poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, over spring break.
“Girls talked of being bullied at school when they got their period. Mothers talked about the struggle to have enough money to feed their children,” said Alison Davis, a lecturer in journalism who co-led the trip with Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism.
While difficult to hear, students hope sharing these stories will shed light on a widespread global issue known as period poverty, which refers to a substantial negative impact on one’s quality of life due to shame, economic destitution, and/or religious and cultural taboos associated with menstruation.
“All women have periods, but not all women have access to period products,” said Elena Cleary, a junior in agricultural communications. “It is my privilege to be able to share the stories of the most amazing, resilient, and kind-hearted women I have ever met.”
The forthcoming documentary, From Shame to Celebration: Sierra Leonean Women Reframe the Culture of Menstruation, focuses on a local woman-led grassroots organization called Uman Tok, which employs 18 women at a living wage to provide sustainable feminine health kits to women and girls around the country. In addition to making tangible progress to alleviate period poverty and menstrual exclusion, Uman Tok is educating a generation of girls and boys on sexual and reproductive health awareness.
The film will feature interviews with a nurse midwife, the headmistress of a small semi-private school just outside of Freetown, and girls at the school who speak about the challenges they face as young women.
The reporting trip is part of a new pilot class in the Department of Journalism, led by Davis and Ledford. They hope the class, “Globally Focused Advanced Documentary Filmmaking,” will be offered by the journalism department each spring semester.
The spring 2024 pilot class was executed in collaboration with Dr. Sophie King-Hill of the University of Birmingham (UK) and Dr. Francis Sowa of Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Ledford originally conceptualized the class as a research and learning lab where advanced journalism students would develop and apply their skills as documentary filmmakers and multimedia backpack journalists to report on issues of pressing international concern, especially in the Global South. Davis, who has over 25 years of experience producing nationally distributed documentaries, is mentoring the students in the process of creating their first long-form video story.
Illinois students partnered with four honors broadcast journalism students from Fourah Bay College to shoot primary footage for the film.
Ledford said he hoped the experience would be as beneficial for the Sierra Leonean students as it was for those from Illinois.
Fourah Bay student Hannah Yankson described her experience as amazing as well as enlightening.
“As a media practitioner, I have been reporting on issues in the country, but this experience is one I will never forget,” Yankson said. “We got the chance to know about their classes at [the University of Illinois] and how journalism is practiced on their side, and they also learned from our side as to how our university operates.”
Stella Bangura, also a Fourah Bay student, said learning how to use the equipment was somewhat difficult, but the Illinois team was helpful.
“This was really an important exposure and experience for us,” she said. “It was highly meaningful as we enriched ourselves with [new] ideas and different knowledge.”
Illinois students left for Sierra Leone on March 6 and returned March 16. For five days they worked on production of the film, conducting interviews, and shooting B-roll in Freetown and nearby Allen Town. They also took a day to tour Bunce Island, a major transit point for West Africans who had been imprisoned and were destined for slavery in the Americas.
Ledford, who has worked in nearly 60 countries in the last 40 years, said traveling to a developing country can present numerous issues and this experience was no different.
“The challenges were myriad and nearly unceasing. Everything from powering our equipment to finding quiet places to interview our subjects in a crowded, cacophonous city; from dealing with lack of Internet connectivity to keeping our team fed and hydrated over many hours in the field; not to mention the abundance of various fauna unfamiliar to our students,” he said.
While the work was stressful and exhausting, with students and instructors working up to 20 hours a day, Ledford said it was also rewarding and infused with laughter and tears of both joy and utter sadness.
“Time will tell the true impact the assignment had on them,” Ledford said.
Maggie Knutte, a junior in journalism, said the experience left a lasting impression on her.
“The subjects we were interviewing and working with were some of the most amazing women I have ever had the privilege of meeting,” Knutte said. “Now after coming home, I feel so honored that I am able to help tell their stories to the world. They are some of the kindest people I have ever met, despite living with hardships I could not imagine.”
For Faith Lee, a junior in journalism, the trip was the most fulfilling week of her life.
“Being a part of this project has not only made me a better storyteller and journalist, but a better human being,” Lee said. “I hope our work will show that period poverty is not just a Sierra Leonean issue, but a global issue.”
Davis said the week abroad was one of the most rewarding weeks of her teaching career and praised the work ethic and talent of the Illinois and Fourah Bay students who had to put their classroom knowledge to the test, making quick decisions under pressure, working in an uncontrolled environment, and dealing with the physical challenges of 90+ degree heat with no air conditioning.
She said the students also had to get comfortable asking extremely hard questions and then processing the sometimes-difficult information they gathered.
“These women shared their stories because of the foundation of trust our students built with them. This is probably what I am most proud of—that our students, including those from Fourah Bay College, conducted these hard interviews with grace,” Davis said.
Davis and Ledford intend to build on their relationship with Fourah Bay College faculty and students and continue to tell the story of Sierra Leonians working locally to mitigate the impact of the global problem of period poverty, and of other woman-led solutions to issues as framed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
A chapter of the documentary, From Shame to Celebration: Sierra Leonian Women Reframe the Culture of Menstruation, will premiere on the web on May 28, 2024, which is recognized worldwide as Menstrual Hygiene Day. Their goal is for the full feature to be seen locally and nationally on PBS member stations, the BBC, and broadcast in Sierra Leone.
A group of College of Media students participated in a spring break media tour in Chicago, meeting Illinois alumni and visiting various industry sites including advertising agencies, news organizations, and a film studio.
Led by faculty members Victor Font, lecturer in media and cinema studies, and Margaret Ng, assistant professor in journalism, seven students attended the three-day trip, held March 10-12.
The inaugural trip was an experiential learning opportunity for students to discover more about media-related careers firsthand.
Bekah Douglas, a junior in media and cinema studies, described the trip as a “once-in-a-lifetime journey” and credits her family and College of Media donors for making the trip possible.
“I was so lucky to attend the College of Media’s spring break trip and have the chance to meet with the artists that make Chicago (and the world) a better place. The opportunity to travel outside of the classroom, to network, to explore the possibilities of media is priceless,” Douglas said.
For Douglas, visiting the Lyric Opera of Chicago to participate in a press announcement for the 2024 season with Holly Gilson and her PR staff and touring the opera house, was her favorite memory.
“I have been a devoted opera fan for many years, so getting to learn the history behind the building and hearing from the artists who make the shows possible was very emotional for me,” Douglas said.
Ng also enjoyed the opera house, where students had the chance to sit on stage alongside professional journalists and watch brief vocal performances that previewed the upcoming season.
“Witnessing the opera house’s level of preparation was a captivating experience. Additionally, observing reporters at work during a press conference taught us a great deal about media coverage of the arts,” Ng said.
Students also met alumna Judy Hsu (BS ’93, journalism), ABC7 evening news anchor, along with other anchors and hosts, and watched a live news broadcast (pictured at right).
“We were right behind the camera, watching the entire hour-long program unfold,” said Ng. “[The anchors] interacted with the students during the short off-camera intervals. They were so friendly and easygoing, yet they could swiftly transition back to delivering news concisely and professionally within a few seconds. I was deeply impressed by their focus and professionalism.”
Gavin Schroeder, a senior in media and cinema studies, said the trip was not only fun but informative. He enjoyed meeting other Media students and talking with professionals in their respective fields.
“[The trip] opened my mind to the similarities that people in the workforce experience. What I took away most was the advice on how to assert yourself and stand out, along with knowing how to work in a team environment,” he said.
Schroeder said meeting with communications staff and touring McDonald’s International Headquarters was impressive. As an aspiring filmmaker, the highlight of the trip for him was a meet and greet with Gordon Quinn, founder of Kartemquin Films (pictured at right).
Penny Bradford, a junior in journalism, was also inspired by a visit to the production studio. She said Quinn’s dedication to public media and storytelling allowed her to see a career she had not yet considered.
“Overall, the trip brought unique experiences and allowed us to connect with [alumni] of the University, along with others that are currently in positions we may want to see ourselves [in],” Bradford said.
Payton Jarzyna, a senior in advertising, said the trip sparked excitement as she will soon enter the workforce.
“I learned about a lot of fields I didn’t even realize I could go into. I also learned more about the job application process, and how to stand out as a candidate,” Jarzyna said. “The businesses we visited and the people we talked to were super knowledgeable and helpful.”
The itinerary also included conversations with:
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune film critic and mentor to the College of Media Roger Ebert Fellows
Geno Schellenberger (BS ’20, advertising), communications director at Havas Chicago
Suheily Davis (BS ’04, journalism), vice president, global chief diversity officer, McDonald’s International Headquarters
Journalism alumni who work in nonprofit communications and fundraising, including Samantha Kiesel (BS ’13), marketing content manager at Boys and Girls Club of Chicago; Isabel Morales (BS ’13), media relations manager at the Nature Conservancy; and Rosie Powers (BS ’12), strategist for Mission Minded; along with Sarah Morris, Associate Vice Chancellor for Regional and International Advancement at the University of Illinois
In addition, students were invited behind the scenes to see:
A model and perimeter tour of the Barack Obama Presidential Library with UIC alumna Rebecca Silverman and the communications and content staff at the Obama Foundation
Blackhawks Live coaches show with Jon Hansen (BS ‘06, journalism) and Joe Brand at WGN Radio (pictured at right)
Google with advertising alumni Katelyn Pringle (BS ’09) and Stephanie Stewart (BS ’08, advertising), both senior account executives
Gregory Hall lower level corridor before renovations
Painting primer in the hallways
Gregory Hall Rooms 1, 2, and 3 before renovation
Gregory Hall Room 1 after demo
