The School of Communication’s inaugural Summit last week was made possible by an endowment of $500,000 from former DU Mass Communication graduate Robert Hathorne and his wife Barbara.
The three-day event brought faculty, students, alumni and friends together for a series of activities dealing with issues of communication in today’s society.
Hathorne and his wife Barbara flew in from Scottsdale, Ariz., to attend the event.
Hathorne said he likes the concept of the three-day event and felt it was a worthwhile investment of both funds and time. He said he likes hearing about DU and alumni happenings, and believes that what anybody else can do for the school is important.
“I want to be a part of it. I can only hope that students here will give back some day,” he said.
He felt the conference was a good way to reach out and bring quality people to the university who then shared their expertise with students.
Hathorne graduated from DU with a B.A. in Mass Communications in 1959. He owned R&B, Flexible Program Sales and an advertising technology business in Barrington, Ill., before retiring with wife Barbara in Scottsdale.
He felt the success of the conference was evident in the number of students attending and in their enthusiasm. He hopes the event will continue for the next 25 years. He attributed much of the summit’s success to Mike Wirth, director of the School of Communication, and Cathy Grieve, who developed the program for the conference.
“It’s guys like Mike Wirth that make things work. He is one of the best in the business,” Hathorne said. “I’m happy I’m alive and here to see the benefits (of the endowment).”
The SOC Summit included three days of activities for alumni, faculty, students and friends. This year’s summit included a dinner on Feb. 19 where Brian Lamb gave the inaugural Hathorne Keynote Address. Lamb is the founder and CEO of C-SPAN. The symposium on Feb. 20 was a daylong series of panels and workshops on the issue of politics and communication. One of the events on Feb. 21 was a live cablecast of the C-SPAN program “Washington Journal.”
Hathorne said, “the quality of people such as Brian Lamb is incredible.”
