This time last year, a gay and lesbian student journalist organization did not exist at ASU. But on Wednesday, the Walter Cronkite School’s chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association will travel to San Francisco for a five-day convention.
The start of the new academic year means increased awareness and opportunities for the NLGJA in its first full year of operation, said public relations senior Anthony DeWitt, the chapter’s president.
ASU’s NLGJA, which was founded last semester, plans to bring in speakers throughout the year including David Kopay, one of the first NFL players to openly come out as gay, DeWitt said.
“We want to be a group that people know about, and we want to build awareness,” DeWitt said.
The 11-member club brings students together for networking and other professional opportunities and also provides a welcoming environment to everyone, said the club’s treasurer Weston Phippen. It includes people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual but is not limited to those students, said Phippen, who is straight.
“The more people, the better,” he said.
One other focus this year is to attempt to instill a LGBT curriculum in foundational journalism coursework, DeWitt said, covering the role of LGBT journalists in the newsrooms of past and present.
“We’re in the media,” he said. “We’re there. We should be covered.”
Eight NLGJA members from the Cronkite School will be led through workshops and seminars at the national convention along with faculty advisor Sue Green. DeWitt said he was excited about the potential for the group to learn and grow closer through the event.
“This convention is going to bring us all together,” DeWitt said. “We’ve been cohesive, but I think this will really solidify the group.”
ASASUD covered the costs for the convention using money for extracurricular events, DeWitt said.
The club’s co-founder, Chrystall Kanyuck, who graduated last spring with a master’s degree in journalism, said the Cronkite School has been very positive in its acceptance of the club and its mission to raise awareness and networking opportunities for LGBT journalists and journalism students.
The reaction “has been uniformly positive,” Kanyuck said. “They want to promote diversity not just among reporters but also in coverage.”
The club is the first student branch of the national organization founded in 1990, according to Phippen and the organization’s website.
Contact the reporter at vpelham@asu.edu
