Alumni gifts launch new honors program at A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
MANHATTAN — Two signature gifts of $5,000 each will provide the resources for the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University to launch the Journalism and Mass Communications Honor Program in fall 2018.
Bill and Debbie Leckron-Miller, Council Grove, and Charlene and Rod Lake, Dallas, Texas, have made the seed contributions to this signature program and hope their gifts will motivate others to support this initiative.
"This program exemplifies the emphasis the A.Q. Miller School puts on its students," said Jean Folkerts, interim director of the A.Q. Miller School, which is in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Our philosophy is to blend theory and practice. Combining the academic elements of this honors program and the expertise students will gain from the program's visiting professionals will give our students the critical thinking and professional skills needed to live and work in the 21st-century workplace."
The Journalism and Mass Communications Honors Program will recruit excellent students to the school, provide them with honors classes, and bring professionals to campus to mentor and equip each honors cohort. The program also will allow students to travel as a group to cities in which clusters of A.Q. Miller School alumni live and work so that students can interact with them and recognize the wide variety of career opportunities for school graduates.
Eighteen incoming freshmen will be selected annually based on written essays, grade point averages and letters of recommendation. The students will be admitted directly to the journalism and mass communications program and will participate regularly in student media or agency and client work with professionals. They also will receive automatic admission to the University Honors Program.
The Leckron-Millers are both graduates of the A.Q. Miller School and have served on the school's National Advisory Council. Charlene Lake, also a graduate of the school, is a current member of the National Advisory Council.
Philanthropic contributions to Kansas State University are coordinated by the Kansas State University Foundation. The foundation is leading Innovation and Inspiration: The Campaign for Kansas State University to raise $1.4 billion for student success, faculty development, facility enhancement and programmatic success.
