A group of students with a new uniting interest has entered the School of Journalism and Mass Communication: sports media and communication majors.
Students with the major will have to take all School of Journalism and Mass Communication required classes with additional sports-specific journalistic courses. These include, but are not limited to, Sports Production, Sports Reporting and Intro to Sports Media and Communication.
Assistant Professor Mu He helped create the major and is teaching Intro To Sport Media And Communication this semester.
“Everybody is really engaged and everything’s good, and it’s more like a solo lecture kind of size,” He said.
To engage students more, He hosts discussions in class and has students practice working on material. Discussions ranged from the sociology of sports to social issues.
“A lot of them share a lot of good insights, which is bringing everybody together, and especially it’s in that lecture-like classroom, there is more space and sometimes you just feel like you are not that close with the students, but you know, we figure that out,” He said.
First-year Abby Nosalik, a double major in sports media and communication and marketing, is hoping to go into a sports marketing position. She played seven sports at various points in her life, so it was a “no-brainer” for her to go into the sports industry.
“I always saw ads with sports, and I love Nike, and they had sports equipment, so it was, like, ‘Oh, that’s something I want to do,’” Nosalik said.
Nosalik said she had been considering Drake because of the atmosphere and the ability to double major. Once she saw the major’s new availability on welcome day, she decided to choose Drake.
So far, Nosalik said she has enjoyed her introductory classes.
“I love learning about different roles that people are playing in media and hearing everyone’s different points of view that I didn’t even think of,” Nosalik said.
First-year Dominic D’Angelo is majoring in sports media and communication and digital media production. He is taking introductory classes within the SJMC, but is excited to start sports-specific courses next semester.
D’Angelo chose the major because he aspires to be a play-by-play announcer.
“I remember sitting on the floor of my living room with my dad watching a basketball game, and I said, ‘I’d like to be one of those voices, those guys talking, calling the game,’” D’Angelo said.
The sports-related opportunities around Des Moines Drake’s small size and its knowledgeable professors helped convince D’Angelo that Drake was the fit for him.
In the first four weeks, D’Angelo has been working to get his feet underneath him at a new school, though he has started reaching out to professors and others for sports media opportunities. He worked as a sportscaster in high school and looks forward to working his way up to that again.
“I know how fun it was, I know how much work it is, but that was a great joy to be able to do that, so [I will] hopefully be able to do that on a little bit bigger of a scale out here at Drake,” D’Angelo said.
Kelly Bruhn, associate dean in the SJMC, promoted the number of internships and careers available to students in the major.
“They [students in the major] are already reaching out to Drake Athletics and other professionals in the community to know, ‘What opportunities can I explore,’ to get plugged in,” Bruhn said. “They have a lot of really great ideas, and so I’m so excited for what’s to come.”
Bruhn added that Drake’s educational opportunities will help prepare students for a variety of future careers.
“Students here have an opportunity to explore lots of different areas. So, if they want to be a sports agent, for example, then maybe they want to also pursue the law to prepare for a career like that,” Bruhn said.
Going forward, He wants to open more opportunities for students in the major, including a capstone project and conference experiences similar to what students in major-specific organizations such as the Public Relations Society of America receive.
“We have this location, we have all those connections with local organizations, so we want to make those things happen as soon as possible,” He said. “And of course, we want to see more students join us.”
