News

September 2009


Dean Jorge Reina Schement visited the West Coast this summer, visiting alumni from Rutgers and the School of Communication and Information to update them on the School’s new direction and developments in the teaching curriculum and areas of research emphasis.

Schement visited with Steven and Cynthia Magidson, longtime supporters of the School of Communication and Information and residents of Bend, Oregon. Steve Magidson is a 1970 graduate of Rutgers College and a journalism alum; Cynthia attended Douglass College.

The Magidsons, who recently visited the New Brunswick Campus and met with six Rutgers students who receive their generous scholarship support (photo at right), hosted an event with 15 Rutgers alumni from Oregon. The occasion took place at the Summit Saloon and Stage, a local restaurant owned by Rutgers alumni Matthew Gordon and John Simak.

“Our alumni had a lot of good questions and penetrating insights,” Dean Schement said. “They were very concerned about the future of journalism and wanted to know how all three of our academic departments would work together to address this complex issue.”

Schement also visited with the Rutgers Club of San Francisco, where about a dozen alumni from the Bay Area met with the dean at the Press Club restaurant for a cocktail reception.

Dean Schement was reunited with his former students (photo at left) Elizabeth Hurley, who worked with the dean as a graduate student at Penn State University, and Jennifer O’Neil, president of the Rutgers Club of San Francisco.

“We talked about our new areas of research” – Health and Wellness; Global Media, Community and Democracy; and Social Media Interaction and Collaborative Design – “and our new proposed minor that will teach traditional and continuing students to develop competencies to use in the digital age. Our alumni were pleased to see our School addressing the challenges of the future.”