The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas planned several days of events to commemorate the 150th birth year of famous journalist William Allen White, who is the namesake of the school. The events took place April 24-27, 2018, at the University of Kansas, where the four-day event featured panel discussions with successful graduates of the school, a film premiere of a new documentary, “William Allen White, What’s the Matter with Kansas?” directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott, and a presentation by former chief official White House photographer Pete Souza. All the events were offered free to all who wanted to attend. These events were dedicated to celebrating the namesake of our school by representing the importance of journalism, honoring our J-School alumni, and giving current students a venue to speak with successful journalists.
From the Judges
The University of Kansas's William Allen White 150th Birth Year Celebration demonstrated a high level of resourcefulness and thoughtfulness in engaging and leveraging the school's notable alumni. With some anticipated challenges, these events stayed the course to achieve their main objective of event attendance to maximize the rarity of being able to celebrate such a unique anniversary, being the only named school at the university. Each event offering had an elevated level of significance, yet was unique enough to garner high attendance for all. It was impressive to see how the university leveraged the contributions of each of the alumni who participated, and addressed the collective impact that the school is having on the profession and community (through its keynote, film and panel discussions).
