The Media, Communications and Journalism Hall of Fame Induction and Scholarship Reception at Fresno State will celebrate this year’s MCJ Hall of Fame class and recognize student scholarship recipients. The event is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, in the Speech Arts Building Studio A (Room 172).

The fundraiser event supports scholarships for future Media, Communications and Journalism Department students.

Presented by the Journalism Alumni and Friends Chapter with the MCJ department, the celebration is coordinated by MCJ students who host the event.

“Our Hall of Fame inductees include two industry legends, Joe Rosato Sr. and Jim Tucker, as well as numerous other highly accomplished media and communications professionals,” said Sara Frauenheim, alumni chapter president and manager of events and corporate sponsorships for Saint Agnes Medical Center Foundation.

Rosato, a former Fresno Bee reporter, left his mark in the journalism world in 1976 after refusing a Superior Court judge’s order to give up the identity of a confidential news source. Rosato was forced to spend 15 days in jail, but maintained his credibility as a journalist, Frauenheim said.

Tucker, Professor Emeritus of Journalism, taught at Fresno State for 30 years, training thousands of students in storytelling, editing and ethical standards.

“As a young journalism student working to develop strong writing habits, Professor Tucker’s editing class was as valuable as any I took during my time at Fresno State,” said Eddie Hughes, alumni chapter board member and senior editor of Fresno State Magazine. “In his class, I learned that a strong editor has to be diligent in checking facts, style, spelling and structure within a story, and that every detail matters.”

The department will also be celebrating this year’s Media, Communications and Journalism Fellows inductees:

  • Albert Cano, manager of local media research at Univision Communications
  • Michael Carr, news director at ABC30 KFSN Television
  • Chris Chiames, senior vice president for Corporate Communications at Sabre
  • Betsy Hays, public relations professor for the Department of Media, Communications and Journalism at Fresno State
  • Blair Looney, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Central California and Inland Empire counties
  • Paul McDougal, owner of Paul McDougal Marketing
  • Jane Quebe, founder and president of JP Marketing
  • Tom Uribes, Fresno State public information officer in University Communications.

Thirty students will also be honored for receiving scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year. These students are chosen based on a rigorous set of criteria.

Students in the department’s Public Relations Cases and Campaigns course, which is a service-learning class, spent the semester working to plan and promote the event.

“Our mission is to honor our VIPs and attendees and to raise money to fund future scholarships so the Fresno State legacy lives on long after we are gone,” student Stephanie Torralva said.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online before Nov. 7 at bit.ly/MCJHallofFame, or tickets are $50 at the door. For more information, call 559.355.7602.