The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications looked back on 40 years of development as it celebrated the accomplishments in its integration into the world of the media and the communications industry.

‘We live in a knowledge economy,’ said Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor at the rededication of the Newhouse school. ‘Newhouse is deeply involved in each of its missions.’

The rededication, which included an audience of Newhouse students, alumni and others involved in the school’s last 40 years and speeches by Cantor, Donald Newhouse and Dean David Rubin, focused on Newhouse’s mission and future in the communications industry.

‘My father was a creature of routine, a risk-taker who never looked back,’ said Donald Newhouse, whose father, Samuel I. Newhouse, funded the creation of both of the current buildings. ‘It has grown in capacity to fulfill the dream my father hoped would be accomplished.’

According to Newhouse, his father had promised money in his will for the creation of a school of public communications at Syracuse University. He was then convinced to fund its creation before his death.

The first Newhouse building was dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Aug. 5, 1964.

‘When this great building was dedicated 40 years ago, the media was very different,’ Rubin said. ‘The media collectively were in their infancy.’

Donald Newhouse’s opinion of his father’s dream of having a successful communications school is beyond what he expected.

‘Graduates have gone on and achieved a lot in their fields,’ he said.

Patty Adcroft, executive editor of Marie Claire and Newhouse graduate, was too sick to attend the anniversary events, but sent some remarks to professor Bob Lloyd, who moderated the magazine panel. Through her remarks, she confirmed Newhouse’s assertion, stating that five out of 50 people at Marie Claire are Newhouse graduates, and she is always inclined to hire them on the basis of their education.

‘The school has gained this tremendous reputation for turning out people who can really do the job,’ said Jennet Conant, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Esquire and GQ.

Conant, a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, said that her alma mater was the equivalent of an Ivy League school for journalists back in ‘the old days.’

Since then, though, Columbia’s journalism program has fallen into disarray because it focused too much on abstracts and not enough on practical training, Conant said.

‘Now, here at the Newhouse school, your trend is in the opposite direction,’ she said.

Newhouse starts off with an emphasis on professional training, Conant said, which has become more valuable to the profession and is the reason why Newhouse is leading the way in teaching students the craft of journalism.

Donald Newhouse also offered insight as to how the school is now as compared to 40 years ago.

‘(The school) has changed because of the change in the business,’ he said. ‘Newhouse has become a substantial force in creating graduates who become very influential in their careers.’

Other university professors commented on how influential Newhouse is not only on its graduates, but throughout the media.

‘Anyone who ever walks into the Viacom building on 1515 Broadway or says the word Newhouse anywhere in the vicinity of Hollywood, and you can get a crowd almost instantaneously,’ said Robert Thompson, a professor in television and popular culture, who participated in the entertainment panel discussion.

Joel Kaplan, assistant dean of graduate professional studies at Newhouse, said that the school’s achievements in the past 40 years are more than anyone could have ever thought.

‘(Newhouse) is one of the biggest, most inclusive schools in the country,’ Kaplan said, citing other schools that only devote themselves to one aspect of communications. ‘So much has happened. No one would have dreamed it would have exploded like it did.’

STAFF WRITERS MATT POWERS AND AMY MCKEEVER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.

Published on October 21, 2004 at 12:00 pm