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R/TV plans all-class reunion for homecoming

By Whitney Bermes
J-School Web Reporter

University of Montana radio and TV students have called every corner of campus home in the past 50 years but now the department is ready to settle down and throw a big party for all its alumni during its wandering years.

The R/TV Department is planning an all-year reunion for Homecoming 2008. Alumni from across the decades are asked to return to Missoula to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the R/TV Department being part of the University of Montana School of Journalism.

The past five decades have seen the R/TV Department housed in old women’s gymnasium and crammed into the little house on Eddy. Now, faculty, staff and current students want to introduce alumni to its new, high-tech home in Don Anderson Hall.

Christine Tutty, a 2005 R/TV grad is heading up organization efforts for the all-class homecoming. She said tours of Don Anderson Hall will be part of the events.

“Ninety percent of the people coming haven’t seen it yet,” Tutty said of the new building.

Homecoming weekend is schedule to start with an R/TV reception on Friday, Sept. 19, the day before the homecoming Griz game. On Saturday, the group will have a float in the homecoming parade, tickets available for alumni to the football game and tours of the new Don Anderson Hall. Invitations to the falls reunion events were sent out to more than 600 alumni and friends.

Tutty and a committee made up of alums from each decade are in the process of planning all the events.

R/TV Chairman Ray Ekness said graduates of the program have had a huge impact on broadcasting in Montana. It’s rare to find a station in the Big Sky state where a UM grad isn’t working.

“I think the R/TV department has done a lot for broadcasting in Montana,” Ekness said.

R/TV has produced graduates who have gone on to bigger, national markets as well, like Emmy Award winner Shane Bishop, a producer on NBC’s Dateline, or CBS News “Up To The Minute” anchor Meg Oliver.

This anniversary is the perfect opportunity for alumni to make it back to UM and see the new and exciting changes the R/TV department is undergoing, Ekness said.

“We’re a small group and very tight knit,” Ekness said. “It will be the perfect opportunity to show the new facility and for (alumni) to get back in touch with the school.”

Location and times for homecoming events are still in the works. For more information, contact Tutty at rtv.reunion@gmail.com.

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