Welcome to a week of celebration of life! Tuesday, June 16, is Bloomsday, the international celebration of Ireland’s most famous writer, James Joyce. Friday, June 19, is Juneteenth, the annual celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. And Saturday, June 20, is the summer solstice, the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. Three reasons to stop, think and celebrate — and you can make your own!
How can we make a difference?
How can the “SJMC family” address the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement? How can we ensure that everyone feels welcome in our space, and what are we uniquely positioned to do — as communications professionals — to encourage meaningful change in our Drake community and in our world? If you have ideas for initiatives we should undertake next year or changes we should make, please let Dean Kathleen Richardson (kathleen.richardson@drake.edu) know.
Share your Drake story OnPaintedStreet
University Communications and Marketing is still looking for students to contribute to its OnPaintedStreet Instagram account this summer. UCM seeks a diverse group of students to help share their Drake stories. And it would be a nice addition to your resume! The application can be found here: https://forms.gle/zN8er5Vgt5qVdsVV6
Calling all grammar nerds
For your editing pleasure and to honor our own resident grammar guru, professor Jill Van Wyke: The Morning Brew newsletter posts an occasional grammar, punctuation and headline guide called the Brew Style Blog (see it here, here, and here).
Reminders
ITS communications job: Drake Information Technology Services is hiring a communications assistant for the 2020-21 academic year. The IT Communications Assistant, in close consultation with the IT Communications Manager, will create communication plans using social media, print, the OnCampus e-newsletter, and other avenues to promote ITS services to their fellow students. They will also develop and execute the departmental student phishing quiz communications plan to educate students about the dangers of phishing and other online fraud. The job will pay $9/hour and will be able to work 300 hours over the school year. Preference given to students in SJMC who have at least a 3.0 GPA. Apply through Handshake by July 2.
Mentor a first-year: We are seeking current SJMC students to serve as mentors for our incoming students. We’ll assign small groups of a few incoming students and a few current students to help build community — and maybe even help someone meet their new “SJMC Besties”! Please email Associate Dean Kelly Bruhn (kelly.bruhn@drake.edu) if you’re interested.
SJMC summer classes: You can still register for these SJMC classes, which run July 6-24 — JMC 41 Financial Fundamentals for Communication Professionals (1 credit) Required SJMC course, CRN 9325; JMC 76 Advertising Principles (3 credits) Critical Thinking AOI, CRN 7440.
Have a news item for the Memo?
The SJMC Monday Memo (and other days of the week as needed) is a newsletter to keep members of the wider SJMC community updated on School news, achievements, events and opportunities. If you have an item for the Memo, please send it to Dean Kathleen Richardson (kathleen.richardson@drake.edu) or SJMC webmaster and multimedia professor Chris Snider (christopher.snider@drake.edu). SJMC alums and other professionals can also subscribe to the Monday Memo via email here: http://eepurl.com/bPNbxn
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication strives to create a community of scholars that represents the complexity of the human experience in regards to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, political views, gender identification, religion, age and physical abilities. We are committed to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for all our faculty, staff, students and visitors, and celebrating our differences through the lens of the First Amendment value of freedom of expression.