ASU Cronkite School hosts alumni celebration during Homecoming

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is hosting Cronkite Day, an annual large-scale alumni celebration, on Oct. 31, as part of Arizona State University’s Homecoming 2014.

The third-annual event features social, career development and networking opportunities for alumni, students and friends of the Cronkite School, and is free to attend. Activities will take place on the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus from 1 to 5 p.m. To register, visit http://cronkite.asu.edu/cronkiteday/rsvp/.

“Our alumni are leaders and innovators in journalism and communications,” said Christopher Callahan, Cronkite School dean and university vice provost. “Cronkite Day offers a wonderful opportunity for graduates to come home and reconnect with their school.”

The Cronkite School will announce the first recipients of the Knight-Cronkite Alumni Innovation Grant, which awards up to $15,000 to graduates who are professional journalists looking to pioneer cutting-edge technologies and practices in their newsrooms.

Cronkite Day will include three showcase panel discussions featuring alumni and media leaders from a variety of disciplines. Discussions will focus on the changing nature of sports journalism, the emergence of nonprofit journalism and public relation’s role in an increasingly complex society. Panelists include Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Julie Cart (’80), Arizona PBS General Manager Kelly McCullough (’82) and FOX Sports Arizona reporter Lisa Blanco (’12).

Craig A. Newman (’79), chair of the Cronkite National Board of Advisors, will lead a keynote discussion with former Cronkite School Director Doug Anderson, who returned to Cronkite as a senior research professor in August 2014 after retiring as dean of Penn State’s College of Communications.

“Beyond showcasing the Cronkite School and its proud accomplishments, Cronkite Day provides us with the opportunity to tap into our accomplished alumni and thought leaders to discuss and explore the ever-changing landscape and challenges facing the media business,” Newman said.

Leading up to this year’s event, the Cronkite School will kick off a monthlong initiative to raise scholarship funds. The #WeSupportCronkite campaign aims to generate 50 new gifts of all sizes that will be designated to support scholarships for deserving students in the coming academic year. Gifts can be made at http://bit.ly/wesupportcronkite.

At Cronkite Day, students and faculty will be on hand to showcase Cronkite’s signature programs, such as Carnegie-Knight News21, the Public Relations Lab and the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab. This year’s student panel lineup will feature some of the school’s new programs, including the Cronkite News – LA Sports Bureau and the Public Insight Network Bureau. Student media organizations such as The State Press and The Blaze will be available to share information and answer questions.

Alumni will have the opportunity to have their professional portfolios and resumes reviewed, and learn how to improve them. There will also be a station where alumni can update information and connect with classmates on CronkiteNation.com, the school’s active online alumni network.

As in previous years, attendees can tour the Cronkite School’s state-of-the-art building and visit the Stanley and Erika Tobin Broadcast Center to record a greeting at the news anchor desk, read a news story or share a memory about ASU.

Cronkite Day is just one of many Homecoming events happening at ASU from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1. On Oct. 30, the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus will host an ASU-wide alumni reception at the AE England Building from 5-7 p.m. To register, visit http://cronkite.asu.edu/cronkiteday/happy-hour-reception/.