The Walter Cronkite School and Barrett, the Honors College, hosted about 25 high school students and 50 parents Monday at Experience Cronkite, one of the Cronkite School’s largest recruiting events ever.
About 25 high-achieving students from across the country were invited to attend Experience Cronkite, where they spent the day checking out the Cronkite School’s classes, speaking with students and attending speeches by Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan, Barrett Dean Mark Jacobs, and Cronkite professor and former CNN anchor Aaron Brown.
Experience Cronkite is the first recruiting event of this magnitude, Callahan said.
“My theme of today would be you can take advantage of major things available at a big research university, but you can also take advantage of things at a small, liberal-arts college,” said Callahan. He explained that the Cronkite School and Barrett offer both experiences at ASU.
A panel of Barrett and Cronkite advisers fielded questions from parents about safety, the post-graduation job market and the opportunities offered by Barrett.
“When you’re the parent of a 17 year-old, (safety is) on your mind, and we remind parents all that we do for safety measures here,” Callahan said. “Per capita, downtown is safer than Tempe.”
Concerning the job market following graduation, students and parents alike put Cronkite above other colleges.
Dawn Wasowicz of Prescott, Ariz., said she appreciated that her daughter, Brooke, would be attending a smaller school that is centrally located but still has a rigorous curriculum.
“You want nothing but for (your children) to be able to go to work and to be able to provide for themselves and to be independent,” Wasowicz said. “Cronkite clearly offers that.”
For others, Phoenix’s location was the biggest appeal. Chris Clabaugh of Humboldt, Iowa, said he was basing his decision on the potential for broadcast markets.
“In Iowa, we can only be hooked up with smaller markets,” Clabaugh said. “That’s why I came out here — it’ll be easier to get a job.”
Jessica Zook of Denver, Colo., said she is also considering Northwestern University in Illinois and Syracuse University in New York but was impressed by Barrett and Cronkite’s academic partnership.
“I really liked that you can do the bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in four years,” Zook said. “I thought that was really cool because not many schools offer that.”
To many students, the most intriguing part of the Cronkite School was its immersion programs, such as Cronkite NewsWatch and Cronkite News Service.
“Seeing people in CNS working on the phones was so cool,” said April Cobos of Gilbert, Ariz. “It made me feel like I was in a real newsroom.”
During the event, Aaron Brown spoke to both students and parents and asked them: Why simply aim for good grades?
“Why would you settle for an A if you are capable of doing something above an A?” Brown said. “Something that moves people more? Something that teaches you more? Something that teaches me more? That’s the kind of thing we are doing here.”
Brown asked students to rise to the challenge of today’s media markets.
“I am impressed by one thing: that every day you come here and give us, and Walter, your best,” Brown said. “Not ‘I worked pretty hard on that stuff,’ but your best stuff.”
Contact the reporter at caitlin.cruz@asu.edu
