It was great to have so many alums and friends back home in Meredith Hall for Relays. Mark your calendars now for the SJMC Relays Party 2026 on Saturday, April 25!
Alumni Award winners
Congratulations to these SJMC Alumni who were recognized as 2025 Drake University Alumni Award Recipients:
Lee Ann Colacioppo, JO’86: Alumni Achievement Award
Deidre DeJear, JO’08: Community Service Award
Tony Tandeski, JO’08: Young Alumni Loyalty Award
Annelise Tarnowski, AS’15, JO’15: Young Alumni Loyalty Award
Lee Ann’s Alumni Awards Remarks
For those of you who were unable to attend the Alumni Awards ceremony, we are sharing Lee Ann Colacioppo’s remarks on the importance of journalism and the value of an SJMC education.
Thank you, Drake, for this award and for all the university did to launch a career that has been more rewarding than I ever imagined. Thank you to my husband, Joe, who is here with me tonight just as he’s been by my side for more than 30 years.
This recognition means so much—not just as a personal milestone—but also because it’s given me the chance to reflect on my education and the foundation Drake gave me.
A journalism education is more than teaching students to write headlines or conduct interviews—it’s about nurturing critical thinkers and ethical storytellers. In a world flooded with misinformation, journalism graduates don’t just report facts; they help society make sense of them.
When Drake invests in talented professors, encourages diverse voices and offers a path for students to get real world experience, it is helping ensure that the one profession protected by the U.S. Constitution can fulfill its role in a sound democracy.
The students who leave a robust journalism program are ready for the challenges confronting our industry. They have the skills to ask hard questions and listen with an empathetic ear. They have the confidence to do their jobs with integrity and resilience.
They are ready to help find a path to a sustainable future for an industry that has lost trust with far too many Americans and has failed to convince our fellow citizens that credible news about your community is worth paying for. They can help us do better.
I know Drake students are up for the job because I’ve spent time with them, hearing their questions and concerns. It’s inspiring.
To our university leadership: I have seen universities slicing away at their journalism programs, but journalism is not a peripheral program—it is a cornerstone of civic responsibility and academic excellence. Alumni: you know firsthand how this institution shapes minds and changes lives. Your engagement, mentorship, and generosity can ensure another generation rises to this essential calling.
Wherever the students here now take us, I hope it is grounded in the basic values of fairness and accuracy in the pursuit of truth. No shortcuts, Hard work. Long days. Long nights. Tough deadlines. Mean editors.
As my career winds down, I am forever grateful to this institution and the people here who touched my life. Here’s to the future reporters, photo journalists, digital leaders, designers and editors who emerge from Drake University.
And here’s to your commitment to educating the people who will shine a light on wrongdoing at the statehouse, help you understand where your tax dollars go, take you to places from jail cells to across town to across the world.
—Lee Ann Colacioppo
SJMC Tenure & Promotion News
Congratulations to the following SJMC professors. Their excellence in teaching, advising, and mentoring; impactful scholarship and creative activity; and meaningful service earned them the following designations:
Jeff Inman — tenure
Ryan Stoldt — tenure and promotion to Associate Professor
Jennifer Glover Konfrst — promotion to Professor
Chris Snider — promotion to Professor