J-School breaks ground for new home

photo by Kathryn Stevens

The Kaimin staff digs into the earth at the site of the new journalism building on April 22. Don Anderson Hall is scheduled for completion in 2007.

By Brad Fjeldheim
J-School Web reporter

A new chapter in J-School history began on the afternoon of April 22 as six silver shovels broke ground for the new journalism building.

More than 100 people gathered as journalism faculty, alumni, donors and students laid claim to the future site of the building. It will be tucked behind Jeannette Rankin Hall, roughly halfway between the current journalism building and the house on Eddy Street that the broadcast and R-TV department calls home.

“It’s the perfect spot for the journalism building,” said Jerry Brown, dean of the School of Journalism. It’s right in the center of everything — social and natural sciences, liberal and fine arts, sports and student government, he said.

	For more photos of the ceremony, click here
photo by Liz Grauman

Brown kicked off the ceremony by emphasizing that the principles instilled by Dean Arthur Stone, the first dean of the School of Journalism, will be carried into the next stage of the school’s history.

“We can hardly find a better time to dedicate ourselves to those founding principles,” Brown said.

Architectural drawings of the new building were on display in a tent along with awards won by student journalists. After the dedication, everyone was invited to be part of the groundbreaking and have a chance with the shovels— turning the first soil and symbolizing the beginning of a new era.

The building will be a far cry from the Army surplus tents and enclosed bicycle shed where students studied when the J-School was established in the fall of 1914. The new $12 million building is planned to be four stories and 57,000 square feet.

“We’re still in the planning stage,” Brown said. Construction will begin spring of 2005 and the building is scheduled for completion by the fall of 2007.

Student lounge areas will be behind the windows on the south side of the building, facing Jeannette Rankin Hall.For more building drawings, click here.

There is still $2 million to raise before the construction can be completed. The Board of Regents gave Brown the go-ahead to begin construction of the building after reaching $10 million. The school will continue to work for donations and pledges until the $12 million mark is met.

The new J-School will take the name of Montana newspaper legend Don Anderson, a former executive of Lee Newspapers. Anderson negotiated his company’s purchase of five Anaconda Co. newspapers in 1959, releasing them from the censorship of the Anaconda Copper Co.

“Don Anderson made a huge difference in this state,” said John Talbot, a retired J-School instructor and former publisher of the Missoulian. Anderson had to persuade a lot of people at Lee Enterprises to invest their money in Montana newspapers, he said.

Sue Talbot, John Talbot’s wife and daughter of Don Anderson, also spoke at the ceremony.

“I know my dad stood for good journalism in a state he loved, and he worked hard for that,” she said. “To be chosen by journalists for this honor would be heaven on earth.” The Talbots pledged $2 million toward the new building.

Print, photo, broadcast and R-TV students will be afforded a luxury they haven’t had in about 20 years when the building is finished — one building for all journalism departments.

Since the R-TV department moved to its offices on Eddy Street in 1985, offices and classrooms have been scattered around multiple campus buildings. Don Anderson Hall will have a full television newsroom, a newsroom for the Montana Kaimin, a section devoted to Native News and enough space for all departments and offices.

Don Oliver, president of the Journalism Advisory Council, said a new building is imperative to the education of today’s journalists.

“When I got here,” said Oliver, who was a visiting instructor in 1998, “I could see the school no longer had the cohesiveness that you need.” All facets of the media are related and good journalists need to be exposed to all areas, he said.

The new building will also have a wall with names of all the donors. “We have had a lot of people who have given $5,000 and $10,000 gifts,” Brown said.

Lee Enterprises is responsible for a $1 million gift.

“I think there is a degree of appreciation for what Don Anderson did for their organization,” Brown said. “This school has a national reputation for producing students who are ideal entry level employees. They know how to hit the ground running, and the ranks of Lee Enterprise newspapers are full of UM students.”

Other major donors include Lloyd and Betty Schermer, the Howard Charitable Foundation, Ben and Alice Pollner, Stephen and Margaret Tse, the Walter and Dorothy Jones Frautschi Charitable Trust, and Penny and Gerald Peabody.

The current journalism building has sentimental value to many faculty and alumni, but the school has exceeded 500 majors in print, photojournalism and broadcast news and production. Built in 1936, the journalism building has become inefficient for handling the constant advances in the profession.

“It doesn’t have the technology or the ability to incorporate the technology that you really need to teach journalism,” Oliver said. “I think we’re going to end up with a world class physical plant. We already have a world class student body.”

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