By Craig McGuire

Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, NY, NY

1998 MS: Major-Magazine Journalism; Minor-New Media

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of the most prestigious schools of journalism in the United States. It is the only journalism school in the Ivy League; it awards the Pulitzer Prize and duPont-Columbia Award; co-sponsors the National Magazine Award and publishes the Columbia Journalism Review. The School is located in Journalism Hall on the campus of Columbia University.

The school’s genesis came in 1892, when New York City newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, offered Columbia University money to set up the world's first school of journalism. The university initially turned down the money. Regardless, Pulitzer left the university $2 million in his will, which led to the creation of a journalism school at Columbia in 1912. He also erected and endowed both the building and the School in memory of his daughter, Lucille.

"My idea," Pulitzer wrote in a 1902, "is to recognize that journalism is one of the great and intellectual professions; to encourage, elevate and educate in a practical way the present and, still more, future members of that profession." 78 students attended the first day of classes on September 25, 1912. The school started with both undergraduate and graduate curriculums.

The Curriculum

In 1935 the undergraduate curriculum was dropped and the School adopted a program at the graduate level. Today, the School offers three degree programs: a Master of Science (M.S.) in journalism, a Master of Arts (M.A.) in journalism, and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in communications.

The school includes courses in radio, television, magazine, newspaper, and, most recently, new media journalism. The School has the highest percentage of technology resources, per student, of any school at Columbia.

The school's graduate curriculum for the Master of Science degree is considered to be a rigorous hands-on course which is taught during a one-year program. All students take Reporting and Writing One, a School staple, where they are taught journalism techniques. In RW1, students are assigned a neighborhood in New York City to cover as a reporter and write stories on various topics and issues. These stories are then critiqued by professors and classmates. In addition to beat coverage, RW1 students cover breaking news and do long term investigative projects. RW1 classes are limited to no more than 16 students and classes are known to become close knit. Broadcast students take a special RW1 that combines print and broadcast techniques.

Students also take specialty classes in various aspects of reporting with options including, political reporting, education reporting, arts reporting, opinion writing, copy editing, and sports reporting. All students are required to take a law class, an ethics class, attend weekly all class lectures, and write a master's project.

There is an ongoing debate over whether the j-school should include academic studies along with classes that emphasize the craft of journalism and, most especially, writing. The school's alumni and many professors, troubled by possible changes to the current curriculum, consider the teaching of "shoe-leather" reporting to be more constructive than woolly-heady theories on mass communication.

Though such theory-oriented programs are popular at other journalism schools, Columbia has eschewed unproven these media studies, regarded as nonsense to many veteran journalists, sticking instead to its tried and true news-gathering techniques that have served generations of its alumni in writing the first draft of history.

Still, many students find it difficult struggling under onerous debts attending the program, which approximately costs around $40,000 a year if all expenses are included. However, there are plenty of scholarships available and the school tries its hardest to be generous.

During the spring semester, students take a specialty class, either in newspaper, radio, television, magazine or new media. Newspaper concentrators work either on the Bronx Beat, which is a weekly newspaper serving the South Bronx or on the Columbia News Services, a wire service of feature stories, serving 500 newspapers nationally.

In 1984, George T. Delacorte (Columbia College, Class of 1913) endowed the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism at the School. The Center’s purpose is the teaching of magazine writing and production, to sponsor scholarships for magazine journalism and to study the exciting and competitive business of trade journals and glossy up-market publications. The Delacorte Center is located on the Journalism Building's 8th floor.

The Master of Arts program is debuting in September 2005 as a way to add a new academic approach to the school. Open only to graduates of the MS program, the students will participate in a one year program to obtain a second MA degree. Students in this program will take classes in both the Journalism School and in other parts of the University. They will concentrate in either Arts, Science, Business, or Politics. Classes will be taught in a cross disciplinary approach with an academic bent.

State University of New York, College at New Paltz, New York, NY

1993 BA: Major-Journalism

The State University of New York at New Paltz is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It was founded in 1885 as the New Paltz Normal and Training School with an Academic Department as a school to prepare teachers for the public schools of New York State. It has been called the State University of New York at New Paltz since 1994.

In 1885, the academy offered their building if the State of New York would start a normal school. It was granted the ability to award baccalaureate degrees in 1942, when it was renamed the State Teachers College at New Paltz. A few years later, in 1947, a graduate program was established. When the State University of New York was established by legislative act in 1948, the Teachers College at New Paltz was one of 30 colleges associated under SUNY's umbrella.

Today, SUNY at New Paltz currently offers bachelor's and master's degrees, with more than 100 undergraduate and 50 graduate degree programs. Currently, almost 8,000 students attend SUNY at New Paltz — more than 6,200 undergraduates and 1,600 graduate students. The current administration President is Steven Poskanzer. The current elected student body President is Justin Holmes

SUNY at New Paltz boasts numerous talented alumni, including U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey,John Turturro, Aida Turturro, Michael Badalucco, photographer Helen K. Garber, and Dr. Stuart H. Garber, creator of Dr. Garber's Natural SolutionsJoan Chen, and New York State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill.