Alumni excel in diverse, unusual careers
The School’s alumni are among the best in the business. One can follow the trail of graduates from the steps of Howell Hall, and now Carroll Hall, to The New York Times, 60 Minutes II, The Smithsonian Institution and Sports Illustrated, to name a few prominent media outlets where alumni have succeeded. And today Carroll Hall hums with the students’ ambition to enter the competitive world of—fabric design?
“Yes, it’s true. Journalism even gets you a job in fabric design,” says alumna Christy Rollins. Not only fabric design, but also stand-up comedy. And investment banking. And late-night television.
Many School alumni apply their degrees to careers from Wall Street to Yankee Stadium. They credit the School with helping them succeed in diverse ways.
Rollins, a designer of multipurpose and window fabrics, says communication skills are a valuable supplement to other training. The 1989 Carolina graduate later earned a design degree, but her journalism background strengthens her presentations and sales materials.
Luchina Fisher, a 1988 alumna, spent a year in England studying film and television after writing for People magazine and several newspapers. Now she is a documentary filmmaker whose projects include an A&E Biography of Gladys Knight. Fisher knows her journalism training sets her apart from other professionals in her field.
“You can see the difference between those trained as journalists, and those that aren’t,” she observes. Among the differences, she cites respect for ethics, accuracy, and good writing.
Tom Ward agrees. Ward is a 1977 School graduate who is now senior managing director at Bear Stearns & Company, the seventh largest brokerage firm in the United States. He earned his master’s degree in business administration to prepare for Wall Street, but he agrees with Fisher that his journalism training distinguishes him from his peers.
“It also allows me to communicate better than some of my more quantitative brethren, and anything you can do better in this very competitive world is helpful.”
Some alumni, like 1995 graduate Doug Behar, intended to become journalists but translated their degree to a niche better suited to their passions. Although Behar’s goal was to work as a sports writer, he found he didn’t like the reporter-athlete relationship. He ended up as Assistant Director of Stadium Operations for the New York Yankees, where he applies his journalism skills to negotiate agreements with labor unions.
Other alumni knew all along that their futures lay outside journalism and mass communication.
Molly Putman, a 2000 graduate, believed the would help her develop versatile skills that could apply to many fields.
“I have also found that the J-School’s reputation as being one of the best journalism schools in the country extends far beyond the journalism community,” says Putnam, now an investment banking analyst in Atlanta.
Wenne Davis always wanted to act, but the 1988 graduates studied in the advertising sequence at the request of her parents. After graduation, New York City lured her with advertising and sales jobs, but she returned to stand-up comedy and acting.
“Being an actor and a journalist have one major thing in common—communicating.” Davis says. “You both communicate to an audience, only as an actor it is with someone else’s words. As a comedian, you’re adding some punchlines.”
Like Davis, 2002 graduate Lindsay Shookus found herself in New York City soon after graduation. She works at Saturday Night Live as an assistant producer. When she delved into job interviews after graduation, she discovered the School had given her knowledge and confidence she barely realized she had.
“I interviewed for an ad position,” Shookus says. “I don’t know why—I knew that’s not what I want to do—but they were really impressed with some of the terminology I used. And I thought, ‘What? That’s just normal.’ Because it’s what’s normal at the J-School. But that’s not what’s normal everywhere.”
Though their careers range from finance to filmmaking, these alumni hold something in common. They all laud one lesson of the School above all others. Of course, it’s the lesson met with the loudest whines and groans from many students.
“Dean Cole once gave me an F only because I misspelled a person’s name in a story for his editorial class,” Ward remembers. “The point was made. I’m more aware of how much the little things matter.”
He’s not alone.
“J-53, I’ll never forget it.” Fisher says. “We all hated it at the time, but the attention to details and facts—those are crucial. I carry that with me today.”