Glassboro Normal School launches a two-year education program that certifies students to teach in the state of New Jersey. Many of the 236 students in this first class take the train into Glassboro and walk across Bunce Green to enter the newly-built Bunce Hall.
The Whit, named after the Whitney Mansion on Rowan's campus, is founded during President Bunce's term. The student-run newspaper continues to be a great way for students to begin their career in journalism. The newspaper has evolved into both print and online versions. Check out the image to see the very first edition.
Using funding from Glassboro State College's Library Department, WGLS-FM goes on air for the first time under supervision of Director William McCavitt.
Six members of the English Department create the Department of Communications with a focus on teaching writing and improving oral and written communication. These founders were George Reinfeld, John Collins, Sam Duryee, Mary Anne Palladino, Glen Thoms, and Allan Weinberg.
Venue, the College's first student opinion magazine, publishes its first issue in the spring of 1967. The award-winning free periodical provided an unorthodox blend of news reporting, art and subversive humor. Venue continued to publish over the next four + decades, offering alternative viewpoints for its readers and a collaborative path for writers, cartoonists and photographers until 2012. In the second photo, you'll find a snippet of Venue's tabloid parody of the The Whit, stealth-distributed across campus. This photo features an expose on then undergrad student leader Ric Edelman. Readers learned about the duration of his showers, his breakfast cereal choices, and his incorrigible roommates.
Dr. Donald Bagin, founder of the graduate PR program and professor of more than 40 years, helps to organize Glassboro State College's hosting of the Hollybush Summit for US President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin. The meeting was held at Hollybush Mansion, which served as the residence for GSC President Thomas E. Robinson and family at the time.
The M.A. in Public Relations is established under the leadership of Professor George Reinfeld and Professor Donald Bagin. The only initial specialization is School PR. In 1981, tracks were added in Corporate Public Relations and in Community Education. The M.A. program rapidly gains national recognition and has been cited as the best such program in the country by the National School Public Relations Association and other national organizations. The program graduates 15-20 students each year.
New programs are launched in Radio/Television/Film, Communications Education, Public Relations, Advertising, and Liberal Arts.
Email ccca@rowan.edu if you can help us identify and name each professor!
The Department of Communications is selected to participate in the third Governor's Challenge Grant Program. Over a three-year period, the Department receives $718,000 to upgrade equipment and bring laboratories up to peak operating status. With its expanded facilities, including state-of-the-art studios and journalism laboratories, the Department looks extra spiffy just in time to mark another milestone as it celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary.
Henry and Betty Rowan gift $100 million to Glassboro State College to fund a new engineering program. This was the largest gift ever made to a public university at that time.
The Anthony J. Fulginiti Chapter hosts its first annual National Organ Donor Awareness Competition (NODAC) to spread awareness about the critical organ shortage. Dozens of other chapters across the country continue to join in this campaign that originated at Rowan.
Airing on Channel 5 on-campus and streaming worldwide from their website, RTN offers students hands-on experience in television production and broadcasting.
The board of trustees votes unanimously to create a new School of Communication at Rowan College (soon to be University) with Dr. Toni Libro as its first dean.
Previously the site of Glassboro State College demonstration school, Bozorth Hall undergoes renovations for new RTF studios and labs. Click "find out more" to read about the name behind the building.
The first new master's program in thirty years launches in 1997 with the inauguration of the MA in Writing Arts, an accomplishment of the new College of Communication under the leadership of Dean Libro.
Cinema Workshop is a student-run, SGA-chartered filmmaking organization. Founded by Professor Richard Grupenhoff, the club allows students to take the skills they learn in their production classes and apply them to personal projects outside the scope of a class project.
Note: First Dean of the College of Communication, Toni Libro (far right of the second row from the front) and current Dean, Sandy Tweedie (four rows back and three people in from the left)
Lambda Pi Eta, Mu Tau Chapter, is founded by Drs. Joy Cypher and Lorin Arnold. LPH is the official undergraduate honor society of the National Communication Association. In 20 years, hundreds of students have completed service projects with LPH and celebrate their academic achievement at an induction ceremony.
The Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation endows a $1 million Chair in Radio, Television and Film.
Pictured: (left) Stephanie Zultanky Writing Arts 2003, M'05 and (right) Cristin Kastner Farney PR 2002, M'03
The Department of Composition and Rhetoric is awarded the Conference on College Composition and Communication's (CCCC) Writing Program Certificate of Excellence. At the time, the Freshman Writing Program served approximately 2,700 students per year.
Under the leadership of Director Deb Martin, the Writing Center launches as a way for students to meet 1:1 with student tutors. More than ten years later, the Writing Center services thousands of appointments each year and has expanded its offerings to include advising for social media, web design, public speaking, and more.
Under the editorial leadership of Ron Block and Manda Frederick, the Master of Arts in Writing program launches Glassworks Magazine, a national literary magazine featuring fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art. In the decade that followed, Glassworks has expanded to include a graduate level course, a robust internship program led by Katie Budris, outreach efforts through the Glassworks Apprenticeship program, and it attracts submissions from notable authors around the world.
The Art Department joins the College of Communication, thus changing the College's name to the College of Communication and Creative Arts.
After purchasing a building at 301 High St. in 2013, President Ali Houshmand announces a multi-million dollar project to remodel the space into a downstairs Art Gallery with upstairs classrooms. Check out the link to see what the Gallery is exhibiting now!
The College expands further into Glassboro with the acquisition of 6 East High Street, which was once a bank. The building now holds the Dean's office, the Whit student newspaper, and the offices of the Journalism department.
Robin Hester graduated in 2016 with a BA in Journalism. She was a member of LPH communication honor society and of the SAL leadership program. With a concentration in broadcast journalism, Hester maintained honors, achieving a Dean’s list designation throughout her studies at Rowan. Hester also served as the SGA VP of Governmental Relations, during which she ran on-campus voter registration and served as a liaison between students, administration, and state and local government.
Alongside the launch of the B.A. in Sports Communication & Media, the Center focuses on providing access to mentoring, renowned guest speakers, networking events, work opportunities and student clubs.
Gedeon makes Rowan history by ascending to the presidency of the Student Government Association. Her sister, Ayala, also an RTF major, becomes SGA Secretary in the same election. Gedeon would go on to serve two terms. Follow the link below to read Gedeon's reflection on the significance of her time in the role.
Alumnus Ric Edelman and his wife, Jean Edelman, announce a $10 million gift for student scholarships within CCCA. This is the largest single endowed gift solely for student scholarships in Rowan University history. As a result, CCCA becomes the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts.
Rubright, a major in Radio, Television and Film with a minor in Journalism, is Rowan's first graduate with Down Syndrome.
Starting fall 2020, this new center addresses professional opportunities and challenges for women in the field of communication.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation donates $450,000 to establish the Diana King Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The program, which may be the first of its kind in the U.S., was established for the late Diana King, and welcomes its inaugural class in fall 2022.
This new scholarship, in honor of Rowan alum Anne-Marie Bottazzi, will provide two $5,000 per year to seniors in public relations, journalism or writing arts.
We'd love to hear from you. Please send questions or feedback to the below email addresses.
Before contacting us, you may wish to visit our FAQs page which has lots of useful info on Tiki-Toki.
We can be contacted by email at: hello@tiki-toki.com.
You can also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tiki_toki.
If you are having any problems with Tiki-Toki, please contact us as at: help@tiki-toki.com
Close