About Us
One day in the Fall of 2006, before there ever was a Communication & Media Society, four students and a professor were casually talking, standing around the Communication & Media hallway in the basement of the CSB. They all happened to be friends. Gregory Bray (production professor), Lynne Walsh (journalism major), Natalie Colón (production major), Bryan Buck (production major), and Bryan Neilon (production major) all knew eachother in various ways through the Department.
The five of them expressed how much thier multi-faceted department would benefit by approaching their projects with a broader mindset. A utopian "wouldn't be great if..." scenerio was proposed and everyone sighed dreamily. "What if there was a place, a society, where anyone from the Department could bring a project and utilize the talents, resources and brain-power of all the majors that were housed under the Communication & Media Department?" The five of them went on about how it could be done, what would be needed, etc. Ah, what a lovely world that could be.
"Why not?" said Gregg. He pointed out that they had just worked out the details, albiet hypothetically. There was nothing left of beuacratic and logistical details that were well within the group's abilities.
A new club was born, the Communication & Media Society, to bring together all facets of the Communication & Media Department, promote intra-department collaboration of projects, bring together students of one major with professors of another, and to reach out beyond.
Later that same semester, the Communication & Media Department hosted an event called, "Taking Hipocracy out of Democracy." Lynne Walsh was covering the event for the school paper, The New Paltz Oracle. The same three production students, Bryan, Bryan, and Natalie were producing a radio news package for WAMC, the mid-Hudson Valley's local NPR affiliate.
Lynne stumbled upon Bryan and Natalie working on their script when it suddenly dawned on them that they should work together, just as the new club suggested. Lynne offered her expirience in news-style writing and Bryan and Natalie offered their logged quotes and script. Everyone exchanged notes, ideas, and resources.
Once students began to bring themselves together, the group gained momentum. Naturally, the students requested that Gregg be there to guide the group and maintain its focus even as the students graduated. Gregg's request was only that he remained an equal member of the Society and only offered guidance.
Radio news package for NPR by Natalie Colón, Bryan Neilon, Bryan Buck, with help from Lynne Walsh.
