The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will host a series of special events this week to celebrate its 25th anniversary and its new home at the Downtown Phoenix campus.
In 1984, the school was named in honor of Walter Cronkite. In August, it moved to a new $71 million facility in downtown Phoenix. Both milestones are celebrated with Cronkite Week, which includes talks by Dean Christopher Callahan, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and journalism professionals.
Topics include the future of journalism in a digital age.
“One of the things we try to teach our students is what that future will look like,” Callahan said Monday in a speech about the school’s history.
The school will also host panel discussions, documentary viewings and the Walter Cronkite Award Luncheon in which Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, both of PBS, will be offered awards of excellence. Most events will be free to the public.
Cronkite, the 92-year-old former anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” will not attend the ceremonies due to difficulties in traveling at his age.
“There are no words to tell you how disappointed I am that I will not be there in person to celebrate these extraordinary events with all of my Arizona friends and colleagues,” Cronkite wrote in a letter that was e-mailed to journalism students Friday.
Despite not attending the celebration of the school that’s his namesake, Cronkite feels affection toward the students he calls his own, Callahan said.
“When he speaks about Cronkite students, he clearly speaks from the heart,” Callahan said.
Callahan spoke to an audience of about 50 students about the school’s history Monday night as an introduction to a screening of a documentary about Cronkite’s life.
Though the school is honoring a 25-year milestone, journalism at ASU goes back even farther, he said. In 1931, the University offered its first journalism class, taught by the ASU publicist. In 1973, the journalism program became nationally accredited.
But it wasn’t until 1984 that the department became its own school, named after one of the most well known journalists in history.
“The naming of the school after Mr. Cronkite really propelled it to national prominence,” Callahan said.
Mary Cook, director of enrollment management and student success at the Cronkite School, said she believes it’s essential to commemorate all Walter Cronkite has done for the journalism school.
“I think it’s important to celebrate journalism as a whole, the First Amendment and, of course, to honor those people who have made huge contributions in the field, including Walter Cronkite,” she said.
Cook said she believes the school’s move to the Downtown Phoenix campus was an important one and a great opportunity for students to learn about journalism in a more realistic environment.
“We finally have a place worthy of the school of journalism where students can use state-of-the-art equipment and get their stories out and actually feel like they’re part of the working press because they’re right here in the heart of the city,” Cook said.
“It’s just kind of an exciting time for us. We’ve been excited since we moved into the new building, and this will be a good week for us to showcase it,” she said.
News editor Claudia Koerner contributed to this report.
Reach the reporter at allison.gatlin@asu.edu
