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The Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance

 

Sports Com

A new program in a growing industry at a great university

Bradley University recently announced creation of a sports communication concentration within the Department of Communication beginning in the the fall 2009 semester. Students interested in the program may request more information from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or submit an Application for Freshman Admission.

Charley Steiner with President Glasser

Bradley Alum, former ESPN SportsCenter anchor and current Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play broadcaster, Charley Steiner '71, met with University President Joanne Glasser. Steiner pledged his enthusiastic support for the new program in Sports Communication.

This distinctive program will prepare students for the diverse media forces of journalism, broadcasting, public relations, advertising, entertainment and the interactive power of online connectivity and communication.

The program will offer program partnerships with major sports and media organizations, regular guest professors and lecturers from the professional world of sports communication, and expedition courses to major sports and media markets in Los Angeles, New York, Europe, and Olympic sites. There is no other undergraduate program like it in the nation.

Bradley University created its sports communication program because the sports industry today is more than the competition of athletes. It is a dynamic field undergoing significant economic growth, one that provides great opportunity for our students. Sports communicators working behind the scenes in various levels have become a major economic and global cultural phenomenon.

The University's history in sports communication is rich. It dates back to the basketball teams of the 1930s with the legendary Jack Brickhouse '37 HON '90, who had a long career with WGN and the Chicago Cubs from the late 1940s until the early 1980s, and 1950s with Chick Hearn calling Bradley games from 1950 to 1956 before he transformed the art of delivering play-by-play by coining dozens of today's common basketball terms as voice of the L.A. Lakers from 1960 to 2002.

Bradley has an impressive list of graduates currently working in sports communication professions, including Charley Steiner '71, former ESPN SportsCenter anchor and current radio play-by-play announcer for the L.A. Dodgers; Ralph Lawler '61, television play-by-play announcer for the L.A. Clippers; Andy Masur '89, radio play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres; Brad Johansen '84, play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bradley has exposed students to sports communication professionals in the past. Sports Illustrated senior writer and NPR commentator Frank Deford spoke at the 2008 Robison Lecture and predicted sports would soon become an integral part of the college curriculum. Within the past few years, the University hosted visiting sports communication professionals from the area in a career panel format.