University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Photographer, member of the Menominee Nation and Journalism alum Dale Kakkak (B.A. '89) was featured recently in an article by Joe Hart for Minnesota Alumni:

“That’s why I got into photography, because there weren’t many Native photographers in the 1980s,” he explains. “And thus, there weren’t that many images produced by Indigenous artists that would help people understand our views and our culture.”

Fueled by a desire to help represent Indigenous viewpoints, Kakkak enrolled at the U of M, where he credits photography teacher Joe Benson with setting him on the path to being a photojournalist.

Read more about Dale's career as a photojournalist documenting Indigenous culture, traditional foodways and sustainability practices: https://www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/we-are-real

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

Big congrats to current student Samantha Siedow, who was honored at the recent Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists Page One Awards as the Winner of the 2025 Page One Award scholarship!

Samantha is a third-year journalism and anthropology student at the University of Minnesota who believes some of the best stories start with a stranger and a little curiosity — especially in an elevator or the back of an Uber. She hopes to spend her career focusing on solutions-based reporting serving rural and immigrant communities. Siedow has reported for The Minnesota Daily, worked as an editorial intern with the university’s MLK Program and served as a legislative intern through the Report for Minnesota initiative. Up next: a semester in Denmark, where she’ll be studying abroad and reporting with the Copenhagen Post.

Way to go, Samantha!
College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

Great to see Strategic Communication alum Ryan Fauglid (BA '24) featured on the UMN Pre-Health Student Resource Center at the University of Minnesota's newsfeed! Ryan changed majors sophomore year and now helps patients develop health literacy, creating materials to help explain their diagnoses and treatment plans for Allina Health. Congrats, Ryan!

https://healthcareers.umn.edu/Ryan_Fauglid_Health_Communications

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

Big congrats to our National Student Advertising Competition team, who took the National Finals in Pittsburgh by storm this past weekend and came home with 2nd Place! They also took home two additional awards for Best Use of Marketing Research and the Connection Q&A Award, which went to Brian Edwards.

The NSAC team's fearless leader, Lecturer Rich McCracken, reports that "The team absolutely crushed it during their presentation and Q&A on Friday. As I think you've heard me say before, this was a very special group that truly went all in over the past seven months. It was a long journey that started with 96 schools across the country."

Big congrats to the whole team!
College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

Last month marked the inaugural meeting of the Hubbard School's Director's Advisory Council, a group of alumni, industry leaders and philanthropists willing to meet biannually to discuss the school's strategic plans. Many thanks to all involved for giving their time and talents to lead Hubbard into the future!

Current Council Roster:
Elisia Cohen — Director, Hubbard School
Martin Brandt — CEO, TrueBrand
Lynn Casey — CEO (ret). Padilla
Jill Giefer — Head of Enterprise Research & Experience Measurement, Best Buy
Lili Hall — CEO, Knock
Kyndell Harkness — Head of Culture and Community, The Minnesota Star Tribune
Michael Hill — Editor (ret.), Washington Post
Lisa Hills — Executive Director, Minnesota Newspaper Association
John Himle — CEO, Himle LLC
Deborah Hopp — President, MSP/MSPC Communications
Stan E. Hubbard — CEO, Reelz/Hubbard
Joseph Johnston, Jr. — Director of Public Affairs, Hubbard Broadcasting
Josh Jones — Design Director, The Minnesota Star Tribune
Dave Lee — Retired, WCCO Radio
Chris Matt — Vice President of Marketing, UnitedHealthcare
David Mona — Chairman (ret), Weber Shandwick – Minneapolis
Jay Novak — Senior Vice President (ret), Aethlon Capital
Wendy Paulson — Executive Director, Minnesota Broadcasters Association
Jorg Pierach — Founder, Fast Horse
Marsha Pitts-Phillips — CEO & Founder, MRPP & Associates Communications
David Royle — Executive VP Programming and Production (ret), Smithsonian Channel
James Schweigert — President, Gro Alliance
Jennifer Schweigert — Owner, Schweigert Fitness, LLC
Jennifer Stoltenow — Senior Director, Global Brand Strategy, Creative & Design, Solventum
Kathy Tunheim — CEO & Principal Tunheim
K. (Vish) Viswanath Lee K*m Kee — Professor of Health Communication, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Ellen Wartella — Al Thani Professor of Communication (ret.), Northwestern University

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

It is, in fact, all fun and games at Murphy Hall right now, as the three-week-long May term class MN+ Folio prepped spec portfolio pieces for Hasbro Games and Extra Gum. Under the tutelage of Teaching Assistant Professor Matt Cikovic and Lecturer Jennifer Johnson (and with the acting talents of Lecturer Erik Kvålseth), students grouped up with actual agency creative directors to brainstorm and develop ad campaigns from start to finish. Among the pitches: how the game of Twister can help squash beef (looking at you, Drake and K-Dot) and help a young man get closer to his girlfriend's father.

The Hubbard Media Hub war rooms are currently covered in post-it notes, bubble gum and board games, and we can't wait to see how all these projects turn out!

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

How can journalism students launch their careers? We sat down with Gayle Golden, senior lecturer and associate director for educational initiatives at the Minnesota Journalism Center, to discuss opportunities for students breaking into the competitive media landscape. To learn more, check out her blog here: https://hsjmc.umn.edu/news/2025-05-20-gayle-golden-empowering-next-generation-journalists

Big congrats to our graduating class of 2025! Yesterday they went from being students to being alums of the Hubbard School, and we could not be prouder of all them for all the hard work they've done to make it to that stage. From here, the sky is the limit, and we can't wait to see what they do next!

Selfies courtesy of Charnley Professor and Senior Lecturer Gayle "GG" Golden and Lecturer Stacie Swenson; all other photos by Senior Lecturer and Senior Fellow Regina McCombs.

College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota

What makes a brand truly believable? We sat down with Hubbard Professors Haseon Park and Allison Steinke to discuss this in their new book, Brand Thinking. To learn more about their research and journey, read our blog post here: https://hsjmc.umn.edu/news/2025-05-08-park-and-steinke-importance-brand-communication

Congratulations to our National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team for reaching the National Finals! Earlier in April, they won first place in District 8 and earned the Best Plans Book and Best Presentation awards. One of the team's presenters, Lauren Murphy, also received the Outstanding Presenter award. Congratulations on all your hard work, and best of luck in Pittsburgh in June!

We would like to extend huge congratulations to our journalism students, Claudia Staut and Matt Sullivan, for their award-winning photography performances at the Northern Exposure Photography Competition. Matt won College Photographer of the Year, and Claudia won College Sports Photographer of the Year!

Event photos by Kurt Stepnitz and Dave LaBelle