CHAPEL HILL – UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Media became the university’s fifth named school on Tuesday with the news that Walter Hussman Jr., a UNC graduate, and his family have made a $25 million gift.
Thus the school is now the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
“This naming gift provides $25 million in endowed funds to build for the future and invest in the people who have made this school a national leader — our professors, our staff, our students and all of the promise they represent,” said Susan King, dean of the Hussman School. “The Hussman family’s passion for journalism is based on unwavering values. Their generosity and vision extend transformational support across all of the media disciplines that we teach and research and serve. Core values are at the root of all we do.”
UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
Other named schools include Kenan-Flagler Business School, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Adams School of Dentistry.
Hussman is the chairman of WEHCO Media Inc., which owns newspapers, magazines and cable television systems in six states.
He believes in objectivity, impartiality, integrity and truth-seeking and wants to see those values pursued at UNC.
“I believe that by adopting these core values, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s journalism school can be the leader and serve as an example for other journalism schools in America to follow,” said Hussman. “This is a key reason why we enthusiastically support the school and the University. This is a first, but important step, in renewing the public’s trust in our profession and the news media.”
The values will be “chiseled in granite at the entryway of Carroll Hall for students to see daily,” the school noted in the announcement.
“From Edward Kidder Graham’s first journalism course at Carolina to today, UNC’s School of Media and Journalism has prepared thousands of students to discover the truth, foster democracy through dynamic communications and ignite the public conversation across our state and around the world,” said Interim Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz. “We are grateful that one of those students, Walter Hussman, is investing to make this school the leading force for good journalism in our state. His core values reflect the priorities and principles of the entire community here at Carolina, and it is a privilege to name our school in honor of his visionary leadership in media.”
The full announcement including background about Hussman and family can be read online.
