Student Media Anniversary Mashup

This past March, Marquette’s Diederich College of Communication celebrated 100 years of student media with an event-packed reunion weekend joining together alumni, students and faculty.

Despite working on different forms of media and traveling across the country from jobs such as _____, dozens of alumni returned to celebrate the meaningful memories they made while working on Marquette student media. The convergence of the forms of media through the creation of the Marquette Wire proved to be a particularly _____.

Here’s a closer look at the reunion, where dozens of alumni, including former staffers of the Marquette Tribune, Marquette Journal, MUTV and Marquette Radio, returned to campus to mingle with former student media colleagues and connect with current students.

The Media Mashup event included stations for each form of media, including an MUTV station where alumni could share their reflections with current staff and a room dedicated to photos of former Marquette media students and old pages of publications.

Tribune alumni, Jack Sullivan and Bill Burleigh, and Anne Burleigh reconnect with Marquette student media at the Friday evening mashup reception.

Johnston Hall was packed with student media memories as alumni reminisced with old friends, some friendships going half a century back.

Former Journal editor Jack Sullivan and former Tribune editor-in-chief Bill Burleigh (pictured above), lived and worked with other student media staff in a building called Walnut Arms. The “Walnut Arms boys” have continued to keep their connection alive. “Jack’s the ringmaster in setting up all the Walnut Arms functions,” Burleigh says.

Sharing anecdotes from their college days, their friendship is still strong five decades later. “We had a great education at Marquette,” Sullivan adds.

During the mashup’s keynote speech, Diederich College of Communication Dean Dr. Kimo Ah Yun emphasized this strong sense of community. “I truly understand what people mean now when they say ‘We are Marquette,’” Ah Yun said.

Mark Zoromski, the director of student media, expanded on the idea of student media integration.

“Marquette Wire serves as a brand,” Zoromski explained. “There’s no longer a division between forms of media. Everyone is a Wire worker.”

MUTV station manager Hannah Kirby and Marquette Wire’s exectuive director Patrick Thomas share their student media experiences at the Centennial Dinner.

Hannah Kirby, the station manager for MUTV, discussed her interactions with former Marquette media students. “Regardless of the year, some aspects of student media never change,” says Kirby (shown above, at the weekend’s culminating event on Saturday night). “A few alums laughed and said that a few of the MUTV set pieces were the ones they used.”

Patrick Thomas, the executive director of the Marquette Wire, also spoke during the mashup.

Charles P. Pierce, Jour ’75, looks back on his time as the Tribune’s editorial page editor.

Reflecting on the event, Thomas shared his experience connecting with alumni. “I had wonderful conversations with Charles Pierce, Tim Vetscher, Bill Burleigh and so many others,” Thomas says. “It was encouraging to see how supportive they were to us students and the mission of student media convergence with the Marquette Wire.”

“It is important that we have events like these to showcase the work our current students are doing, and to reconnect alumni with what was a huge part of their college experience,” Thomas says. “It was an honor to be a part of it.”