Boren, along with Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote, Christy Everest, chairman and CEO of the Oklahoma Publishing Company, Editor of The Oklahoman Ed Kelly and Savannah Mobley, advertising senior, spoke at the dedication of Phase II of Gaylord Hall.
Boren credited the building to Edith and Edward Gaylord, who gave money for its construction. Boren also thanked other major donors for the new phase, including the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Inasmuch Foundation and the Gaylord Family Foundation. Representatives of all those foundations attended Tuesday’s ceremonies.
“This is a building that never sleeps,” Boren said. “It’s an exciting place to be.”
Boren said OU’s journalism and mass communications program has never stood at the point of excellence as it is right now, with 1,400 students and 33 faculty members.
“In this time of enormous change, we understand that through it all we must maintain integrity and depth and accuracy in communication itself,” Boren said.
Phase II of Gaylord Hall features a student-led advertising and public relations studio, a 185-seat auditorium with a studio and sound stage and a video production studio, an OU press release stated.
“Our family is really excited about seeing the vision we had being complete,” Everest said.
Kelley, in a post-ceremony interview, said this is a great day for the progress at OU, which he said has come a long way in the last 10 years.
“The commitment President Boren has to not only keep journalism strong, but making sure it’s one of the reasons OU is known nationally is really inspiring,” he said.
Kelley said there are few presidents at universities around the nation who really understand journalism like President Boren does.
Foote said OU is fortunate to have had the opportunity to open two new buildings within five years, referring to the phases of Gaylord Hall.
“We are achieving a level of excellence few could have imagined a few years ago,” Foote said.
The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is credited as being the fourth-largest academic college at OU, Foote said.
Mobley said she remembers when she first toured Gaylord Hall Phase I.
“I never imagined I would see the completion of Phase II,” Mobley said.
Mobley contributed to the new student-run PR and advertising agency, Lindsey + Asp, that will reside in Phase II of Gaylord Hall.
“It was an honor to have President Boren and Dean Foote speak to all of us,” Stacy Kaplan, journalism senior and Gaylord Ambassador, said in a post-ceremony interview. “This is going to open a lot of doors and create new opportunities for students.”
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Ali_Oop 2 years, 7 months ago
The title should be: "Boren gives credit to donors for Phase II of Gaylord Hall construction." Please grammar check (split infinitive)! I would hope that our students would be learning the importance of proof-reading...if nothing else.