When we think of comebacks, one might reminisce on the powerful comebacks of two sports veterans, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre after they retired.
It’s been a long time coming for University of West Florida journalism students interested in re-establishing a campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, but the future for a comeback looks promising.
The original SJP chapter at the University of West Florida, called the Journalism Club, was established in 1985. As time progressed, the chapter became less active as student interest dwindled and was relinquished as a result. Last fall, however, a group of journalism students organized a movement to re-enact another chapter on campus.
The three founders of the new chapter, Kristen Dressel, Jodie Maddox, and Will Isern are determined to see that all requirements are fulfilled in order for the chapter to be approved by the University and the National Society of Professional Journalists so that UWF will have a SJP chapter once again.
Jodie Maddox explains the process of reactivating the club, “I first went online to the national website spj.org to research the process in becoming part of the national organization,” she says. “Because the school previously had a chapter we simply had to reactivate it. We only needed three student members and a faculty advisor who were all in good standing with regard to their national membership in order to reactivate the local chapter. As for getting the organization incorporated through the Student Activities Board, we had to go online and fill out their application which is currently under review and we are waiting to hear back from them sometime in the next week or so.”
Maddox sees the chapter not only as a vehicle to form a community of student journalists, but as a vehicle to enhance student and faculty relations since communication arts professors Gary Ghioto and Bruce Swain serve as advisors.
“I believe the chapter will help to unite both faculty and students through the unbreakable bonds formed by a love of journalism and a passion of the profession,” says Maddox. “Faculty members will be able to pass on their own experiences and knowledge gained only through real world applications of everything students are taught in classrooms.”
Kristen Dressel, who is also the Voyager Web Editor and Media Editor, says that this chapter will strive to strengthen the ties between communication arts students.
“This is exactly what needs to happen now. With the job market right now, we need to make as many contacts as possible,” says Dressel. “Especially when it looks like print journalism is advancing into more multimedia. But, the more we come together and realize that we have this common interest, we can bring more to the UWF Campus TV News and The Voyager.”
Dressel says that the mission of the campus chapter is to bring journalism students together and also encourage them to become more involved with their degree. Dressel adds that the chapter will carry this mission out by giving members the opportunity to participate in workshops and competitions, go to conferences, and listen and interact with guest speakers.
Will Isern believes that the campus chapter will benefit UWF’s communication arts department and greater academic community by presenting student members with network opportunities and hands on experience.
“We hope that an SPJ chapter here on campus will connect UWF students with journalism opportunities both in and outside the scope of the University,” he says. “Not only does it look good on a journalism major's resume, but we think that through attending SPJ conferences students will be able to get some real world journalism experience and networking opportunities.”
To join the campus SJP chapter, a student must go online to spj.org and fill out the national application which includes a $36 annual fee or a total fee of $100. Then you must contact a UWF SJP chapter member or advisor Gary Ghioto. You can also join the UWF SJP chapter Facebook group called spj@uwf.
The next informational meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 23rd. It will be on the second floor in the Commons from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm in room 268. It is open to all students.
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