The College of Media has received an estate gift of just over $1 million to create the Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows program for undergraduates.
Because of the profound impact that the University of Illinois had on the trajectory of Brandt’s life, his dear friend, fellow Illini, and trustee of his estate, Mary Leyendecker, chose to ensure that his legacy makes a positive impact on students and society. Brandt, a 1986 alumnus of Illinois who retired early from General Electric after a career in finance, passed away in January 2021. His wish was that the funds be used to “do good in the world.”
The funds, endowed in perpetuity, will provide internships to Media students to work with college faculty and staff on public engagement projects, and/or as participants in programs that are designed to support first-generation college students, students from underrepresented groups, and/or students with significant financial need.
“This promises to have a transformative effect on our important efforts in public engagement and will meaningfully influence the lives of students for generations to come,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin.
Beginning Fall 2022, the funds will be available on a competitive basis and will support up to 40 students each year who will work on a variety of college and department initiatives.
For example, Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows will be able to contribute to faculty-led projects on media literacy and the Chancellor’s Call to Action to Address Racism and Social Injustice, engagement opportunities at Illinois Public Media, and more. Funds will also be used to support students in the New Voices internship program.
The Brandt Fellows will serve as models of engaged leadership and will gain skills and experiences that will allow them to chart a course toward a lifetime of societal impact through their careers in media and through their personal endeavors.
“I feel certain he would enjoy helping those who are going to help society,” Leyendecker said.
November 5, 2021 | Liz Westfield, Illinois Public Media
Students learn about audio tools in the Illinois Student Newsroom at Illinois Public Media. (Photos by Isabella Pennebaker, photography intern.)
Illinois Public Media and the Department of Journalism are thrilled to officially announce the founding of the Illinois Student Newsroom at Illinois Public Media—a collaborative place for journalism students to work side-by-side with professionals in all facets of a public media newsroom.
“The Illinois Student Newsroom at IPM is a great reflection of our educational strategic priorities at the College of Media,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “We’re bringing together two parts of the college—IPM and the Department of Journalism—to foster experiential learning.”
“Illinois Public Media is proud to support the next generation of upcoming journalists through this new student newsroom initiative, created in partnership with the Department of Journalism,” said Moss Bresnahan, executive director of IPM, which is a non-profit public media service of the College of Media.
“IPM is an ideal space for students to gain experience working in the field, while receiving personal guidance from journalists, and producing content for a professional media organization,” said Professor Stephanie Craft, head of the Department of Journalism.
The program is led by Chris Evans, clinical assistant professor in journalism (pictured at right). His position was created in 2020 to facilitate students gaining real-world experience at IPM. The Illinois Student Newsroom at IPM offers space for students to learn how to report, write, interview, and anchor, as well as build a portfolio of work across audio, video, and multimedia platforms, right in the heart of a dynamic working newsroom.
“Student journalists can now produce segments, create multimedia content, and experiment with a variety of tools, while also gaining a unique experience in a fast-paced professional environment and supporting our public service mission,” Bresnahan added.
In the past year, as the Illinois Student Newsroom was being developed, Evans has connected students with the IPM news team to produce impactful journalism for the greater central Illinois community.
“We have already shown if they’re willing do the work, a first-year student has as much of an opportunity to get on the air as a senior or even a grad student,” Evans said. “And as an educator, it’s been just thrilling to watch the students grow and thrive and begin their careers here at Illinois Public Media. The fact that the students have already started winning state and national awards for their work is awesome, too.”
For example, as an inaugural member of the Illinois Student Newsroom last year, Farrah Anderson—now a sophomore in journalism and senior student producer—reported on University of Illinois athletes’ response to the Black Lives Matter movement and their decision to lead a march in August 2020, which earned her first-place accolades in the Student Spot News category of the Public Media Journalists Association Awards.
“My experience with the Illinois Student Newsroom has been formative in my career as both a journalist and a multimedia storyteller,” Anderson said. “As a reporter, I was plunged into the world of audio storytelling and had the opportunity to report on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus and the surrounding community. By moving into my role as a producer in the student newsroom, I now edit and mentor other students that were in my same position just a year ago.”
Not only do the students learn from the professional journalists and journalism educators, but the program is also structured where they can learn from each other. Both Anderson and fellow inaugural member, Vivian La, a sophomore in journalism, have gone from student reporter to senior student producer in their short tenure.
“I’ve really enjoyed guiding new reporters on the complexities of audio journalism,” La said, “and hearing their stories on the air is so exciting! I’m very honored to be a part of the newsroom and tell stories that impact our local community. With the guidance of Professor Chris Evans and some of the full-time reporters, I’ve learned something new every week that solidifies my interests in the wide world of journalism.”
The newsroom experience also ensures that student reporters receive professional mentorship and feedback along the way.
“The Illinois Student Newsroom at IPM helps put more central Illinois voices on the air,” said Reginald Hardwick, news and public affairs director for IPM. “These talented University of Illinois journalism students help cover the news on-air and online while working alongside some of the best journalists in public media. We’re glad to broaden coverage, but we are also delighted to help guide the careers of America’s next generation of storytellers.”
As part of a commitment to provide internship opportunities for first generation students and students from underrepresented populations, the College of Media launched the New Voices Internship Program this fall. Interns in the program will gain a variety of media-related skills through in-house projects and career development workshops.
The pilot program, supported by the Office of the Provost, will be coordinated by Media Career Services within the college’s Student Services Center. This year, approximately 10 students, mostly freshmen and new transfer students, will be provided with a year-long paid internship experience.
“This program is designed to provide Media students with career-building experiential learning opportunities from the day they arrive on campus,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin. “The experience will also broaden their network of resources within the college. In turn, we’re benefitting from the interns’ unique perspectives, such as getting feedback on preferred ways to reach and communicate with prospective students who are beginning to research Media majors.”
At their initial meeting, the interns expressed interest in learning more about traditional and non-traditional career options and creating content for an academic institution. For their first project, the interns shared insights and ideas about the college’s communications channels, and offered ways in which they could help.
“We’re excited to match students with faculty and staff within the College of Media to develop skills related to their major and career interests,” said Katie Clark, senior assistant dean for student services. “The students will be able to build their resume quickly with projects that will entail interviewing, writing, photographing, storyboarding, video editing, and more.”
Jackie Barba, a freshman in journalism (pictured at right), is excited to be one of the inaugural interns who can help shape how the program functions and grows.
“I hope to explore other strengths I might have,” Barba said. “For example, some of the projects we’ve already done have helped widen my understanding of what working in communications can be like, and I actually really enjoyed that. I also hope to gain friendships and connections with other College of Media students who are involved in the program!”
Help our students by investing in an endowment
We invite our alumni and friends to help support the New Voices Internship Program and sustain its future. Your gift is an investment in our next generation of media leaders and will give a diverse group of students the opportunity to develop valuable skills applicable to the media industry. To give, visit our Giving page, click on the orange button, and under “Other,” type in “New Voices Internship Program.”
To learn more about this program and how you can help support first generation and underrepresented college students, please contact Deanne Johnson, assistant dean for advancement, at 217-333-0752 or jhns@illinois.edu.
December 2, 2020 | Kimberly Belser, Communications and Marketing Intern
Talented advertising undergraduate students will be recognized for their creative work and provided with a monetary gift to support their creative career path, thanks to the Murray Kalis Award for Creativity in Advertising. The new award was established by College of Media alumnus Murray Kalis (BS ’61).
“Much of advertising education is quantitative based: media, research, tracking,” Kalis said. “Yet, what can truly differentiate ad agencies is qualitative. What I learned in the ad business was creative is the great equalizer in agency pitches. No matter how big our competitors were, if we had the big idea, we won the account.”
Kalis, who spent most of his career as a creative director, endowed this award to emphasize to students the importance of creativity in advertising.
“Overall, as a department head, I feel blessed and very happy that we have alumni who care deeply about our students, and who would really like to recognize the strength in our talent pool,” said Professor Mike Yao, head of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising.
The award process, which begins this December in advertising senior lecturer Peter Sheldon’s ADV 452: Creative Concepts I course, will take place during a virtual portfolio review, where at least one “upper-level creative with an extensive track record” will critique the students’ work.
Three awards will be given: one for the best single ad, one for the best three-ad campaign, and one for the best 10-ad portfolio. Students have the ability to win in multiple categories.
The criteria for the Murray Kalis Award for Creativity in Advertising is smart positioning, outstanding creative concept, and strong execution, in addition to that “wow” factor, Sheldon explained. The winners will be given a gift award to support their efforts in pursuing a creative career path in the advertising industry.
“From the time I started at [the University of Illinois], I was always interested in majors that require creativity,” Kalis said. “In fact, I switched majors every semester, starting with architecture, to industrial design, to fine arts painting, and then to creative writing.”
Because of this, he had little to no concentration of prerequisites to start his junior year. Then, he learned that the School of Journalism only required 60 hours completed, and that the school offered a major in advertising.
“I loved advertising because it called upon everything I knew and had learned. After all, you never know what products you might need to work on,” Kalis said. Two years later he graduated from the journalism school having majored in advertising.
“Even though our curriculum does not have a dedicated track for creativity because its history has always focused on strategy, there are many creative talents in our major,” Yao said. “We will always be looking for a way to discover and support these students who are interested in pursuing a creative path in advertising, and so this timely gift and this award will allow us to discover and cultivate this type of talent.”
Yao said it is important for students to be given a broad view of the industry and to be able to pursue their interests through the advertising curriculum, while feeling supported and recognized.
“This award really reflects our dedication and our view of the importance of this particular dimension of advertising,” he said.
Kalis is creative director of Kalis, Inc.; a partner and creative director emeritus at Riester; a board member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council; on the board of advisors for Dave’s Hot Chicken; and a member of the Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investor group in the U.S. Most recently, he joined the Los Angeles-based B2B delivery startup, Ship District, as Chief Marketing Officer.
