Welcome from the Dean

A Critical Role in Society

William Allen White once said: "In education we are striving not to teach youth to make a living, but to make a life."

Since 1903, we’ve been teaching journalism. We’ve also been teaching students to be curious, hard-working, resilient, and ethical. KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications was founded on traditional values of journalism education – writing and editing. We’re known for that. We also are recognized as one of the most innovative schools in the country. Our curriculum builds on our past and prepares graduates for the challenges of the ever-changing media worlds. Our graduates are ready for this new world.

We are well into our second century of teaching journalism and strategic communication. We teach students to think critically. We also teach them to write for a variety of media outlets, shoot and edit video, analyze and visualize data, create strategic marketing and branding plans, and discern for themselves and others what is accurate and verifiable information.

Our programs today include strategic communication, public relations, advertising, sports broadcasting, multimedia journalism, integrated marketing communication, digital media strategies and research at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Our students receive a world-class education. We say it’s not enough to be graduating highly skilled journalists and marketing professionals. We want to make sure that our students understand the critical role they play in society. You will find our graduates in television studios, advertising and public relations agencies, newspaper and magazine offices, and a spectrum of other places. And, we hope that wherever they are, our graduates work with skill, passion and a sense of ethics as journalists and citizens.

You’ll find our graduates in Kansas and beyond – way beyond. Sally Buzbee is executive editor of The Washington Post, Meka White Morris is senior vice president and senior revenue officer for the Minnesota Twins, and Julie Jacobson travels the globe as an AP photographer. Fritz and Holly Heffinger founded one of the most recognized experiential marketing agencies in the country. And Laura Okmin is the third-longest tenured sideline reporter in NFL history.

Wherever they are, our alumni carry the proud traditions of being Jayhawk Journalists.

Our graduates make a good living. It is our hope that they also make a good life. We’re proud of them and hope they are proud of us.

If you’d like to learn more about the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at KU, please contact the dean’s office at 785-864-4755 or email us at jschool@ku.edu. We’d like to hear from you!