Welcome Back Communication Alumni

Last Saturday, The MCAN Alumni Network organized a Homecoming Celebration event on the fourth floor of Tower Hall.   I had the honor of dedicating two plaques to long time adjunct instructors Art Hellyer and Barbara Eberhard.

The plaques read as follows:

We place this plaque--in honor of Barbara Eberhard with sincere appreciation for over two decades of dedication for the advancement of aesthetic awareness and photographic skills of USF students

We place this plaque--in honor of Art Hellyer in appreciation for his contribution to radio broadcasting and for his positive influence on student broadcasters of WCSF-FM

My remarks about Barb featured:

• how she was referred to me by Jack Prendergast, former USF photography instructor
• she was an adjunct instructor of photography for 27 years
• her student evaluations were outstanding from her CMMA and Art & Design students
• her service and dedication to our department was exemplary
• she is still a practicing artist but she is retired from teaching

My remarks about Art featured:

• his role as an adjunct radio instructor in the seventies and eighties
• he helped get our carrier current radio station off the ground
• he worked at major market radio & television stations
• his unique insight was shared with his students who truly enjoyed his tales involving a number of world renowned figures…his favorite was former president Harry Truman
• He recently passed away, yet his legacy of being an outstanding radio broadcasting teacher lives on

Thanks to Lisa O’Brien, co-president of MCAN, the get together was a lot fun because of the food, drink, speeches and a lot of conversation about the past, present and future of the fourth floor experience. 

We had a number of graduates who had not been back to see how our multimedia lab, studios and facilities evolved over the years.  Alums celebrated together for more than two hours.  Friends came from short and long distances to be part of the Homecoming weekend activities. 

Alums from 1983 to 2019 shared stories about their USF experience.  They happily watched the unveiling of the two plaques on the walls of the Mac Lab and Radio Station.  Of course, they enjoyed tours of our computer lab, The Encounter office and the studios of WCSF 88.7 and USF-TV.

It was great to see more than 30 alums who came back to visit the Communication and Media Arts faculty.  I am looking forward to future Communication and Media Arts events.  After all, I have been teaching at the University of St. Francis for a very long time, so I have forty-one years of memories of many of my former students who hold a special place in my heart.