Don Anderson Hall set for dedication
Dean, UM president and mayor to speak at celebration

Cover of the Don Anderson Hall dedication invitation. Building photo by Tim Kupsick

By James Laber
J-School Web Reporter

Nearly three years after its May 2004 groundbreaking, Don Anderson Hall is coming to completion. On May 11, Journalism Dean Jerry Brown will cut the ribbon and Anderson Hall will open its doors.

“The architects and contractors have done a beautiful job,” said the dean. “Everyone is extremely pleased and impressed with the new building.”

A wide spectrum of people are expected to attend the Don Anderson Hall dedication. Brown estimates more than 200 faculty, alumni, friends of the J-school and major donors will attend. A luncheon before the dedication and a dinner the night before, for donors of more than $10,000, will also be part of the festivities. 

What will be served at the meals? “Chitterlings and grits,” Brown joked.

UM President George Dennison and Missoula Mayor John Engen — a J-School alum — will speak at the dedication, along with Radio-Television and Print department chairs Ray Ekness and Carol Van Valkenburg.

The new building cost roughly $14 million and is 57,238 square feet, more than double that of the current building. Don Anderson Hall boasts many state-of-the-art features, including broadcast and digital photo studios and computer ports in the classrooms.

The Montana Kaimin also gets new digs. The new office is also more than double its size in the current building and has an office for the editor, a conference/interview room, and a kitchenette.

Although the “Journalism” nameplate that has welcomed students into the current building has been moved to Don Anderson Hall, the building will also sport some new art.

Outside of the Kaimin office is a neon pink “NEWS” sign, which hung for decades in the office of the now defunct Fairfield News in Fairview, Mont., according to Professor Dennis Swibold. Both Swibold and Ekness thought the sign would be a great addition to the new building. After Swibold inquired about its ownership, Kevin Boehler, owner of Elk River Printing in nearby Sidney, purchased the sign and donated it to the school in memory of his father, Virgil Boehler, former publisher of The Sidney Herald and Butte Weekly. Swibold plans to make a plaque that tells of the history of the sign and Virgil Boehler’s passion for journalism.

Location of the newest building on campus: Don Anderson Hall

Brown, who is retiring as dean in July, said his favorite part of the new building is “the light and the location.” Moving the Print and Radio-Television departments into the same building is also a positive change, he said.

“The building includes all the elements of journalism,” he said. “[Don Anderson Hall] is centered in the heart of campus, near everything where it should be both figuratively and literally.”

“I am delighted to have brought the project this far,” he added. “[The new building] will give the new dean a good base to build on.”

Printer Bowler, who teaches news design, created the program for the dedication. The program contains a history of the J-school, an introduction from the dean, and photos by J-school students Tim Kupsick, Krista Miller, and Will Moss.

Bowler said that although the building is new, the school has a lot of history and students should not forget that.

“In a sense it’s more than a building, it’s more like a symbol of everyone who has gone to the school,” he said. “It is a new building, but the school already has an incredible history to be proud of and hopefully its future will be just as successful as its past.”

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