University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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The first level of Kinrpel Ilall has a newly reconfigured out, creating more office spaces for faculty and private duction booths for students. 2 . Classrooms were updated h fresh paint, new flooring and new furniture. rom the outsi

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modernization the School of Journalism and Strategic Media and Stu¬ dent Media, began summer 2017 and continued through¬ out the school year, wrapping up by fall 2018 with the completion of the rest of the first floor and the Student Media ( enter oil the west side of the building. As of fall 2017, the hack end of the first floor of Kinipel was revamped with straighter hallways, newer class¬ rooms, more offices for journalism faculty, and private studios for students. Over the course of the year, the Student Media ( enter transformed the small courtyard into a media studio and central huh for all student media organizations. Gerald Jordan, associate journalism professor and emeri¬ tus, has taught at the university for over 22 years and said he has seen the first floor of Kinipel go through a number of changes. He said he was glad for the renovations and looks forward to the ways in which the Student Media ( enter will bring the journalism school together and increase ' its presence on campus. Jordan said the improved lighting was one of the greatest improvements, because it takes away from the whole idea of it being a dank basement. Ile also said renovations provided a space where students could build a sense of camaraderie. Along with these renovations came a name change for the journalism program from the Walter J. Leinke Depart¬ ment of Journalism to the School of Journalism and Media ( enter, was proposed and accomplished by Larry Foley, chair of the School of Journalism and Student Media, with the help of funding from Sue Walk Burnett, a distinguished alumnae of this very journalism program. According to Foley, the department was long due for a name change to place it among the ranks of other highly accredited journalism programs at colleges across the nation. In fact, when researching the potential of a name change, Foley said he realized the department already qualified as a school in everything hut name.” ‘There is something in a name, and our name needed to be changed to reflect who we have grown to become,” Foley said. Alex Xicoll, editor-in-chief of The Arkansas Traveler, said he thought the renovations were crucial for Student Media ' s visibility on campus and ability to collaborate. I remember the past couple of years wo called it the dun¬ geon’ as a joke, Xicoll said. He added, “I’ve had a lot of people come and talk to me about how fresh and amazing this whole place is. Foley agreed with Xicoll by saying, Bight now, we re hidden off in the basement when 1 nobody (wens knows we exist. Thats not going to be the case anymore. A r

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