Charles Lindbergh made the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight in 1927. That same year, Trotsky was expelled from Russia, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in Massachusetts, the Holland Tunnel was opened in New York and Hollywood released the first talkie, Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer.

But that same year in Fort Worth, Texas, a visionary journalist and educator was focusing not on these events but on the journalists who, in the years to come, would feed society’s growing hunger for news.

His name was J. Willard Ridings, and his philosophy in founding the TCU Department of Journalism was simple: When one of his graduates showed up to apply for a newspaper job, the editor should only have to look at only one line on the resume – TCU journalism graduate – to know that this applicant had a thorough background in the liberal arts and a solid grounding in professional practice.

And though 1927 was also the year that Philo Farnsworth first demonstrated television, Ridings probably had no idea that one day his newspaper-oriented department would be producing professionals to cover the news on TV. Or that advertising/PR specialists and international communications practitioners would one day graduate from TCU.

Riding’s one-man department with a handful of students is now the Schieffer School of Journalism with more than 500 undergraduate and graduate students and an impressive group of alumni in leadership roles throughout the world in mass communications. But I suspect that J. Willard would be proud to see that his bedrock philosophy – that TCU should produce skilled professionals with a solid liberal arts background – has remained unchanged.

A degree from the Schieffer School of Journalism means the graduate has studied in an atmosphere that values ethics, responsibility, and learning experiences that help students develop professional skills.
We invite you to experience the Schieffer School difference for yourself.