Richard Wilson Alumni Symposium revived to connect generations of journalists

The School of Journalism and Media recently brought back the Richard Wilson Alumni Symposium, a dedicated event aimed at reconnecting alumni with current students. After several years without an official gathering, this symposium brought together alumni from various career paths to share their experiences and insights. 

The event featured an hour-long discussion with alumni representing different careers and years of graduation, followed by opportunities for students to ask questions directly. 

“We decided to restart the Richard Wilson Alumni Symposium again because it had been several years since we had an official event like this one,” said Allyson DeVito, senior lecturer in the School. “We haven’t had one event dedicated to bringing only alumni back to campus to speak to current students.” 

Plans are already underway for the Richard Wilson Alumni Symposium to become an annual event, potentially alternating between fall and spring semesters.  

"It was also great this year to have Richard Wilson's widow and their two sons with us," DeVito said. "Mr. Wilson attended the alumni symposiums when he was alive, and his wife shared how much he would have enjoyed this one. She said it's what he had envisioned when he started this more than 20 years ago.” 

2024 featured alumni were:

• Reese Fleming: technical director at Fox 56 News, Lexington (MAS, 2020)

• David Schuh: digital content producer at WDRB, Louisville (JOU/COM, 2014)

• Bailey Vandiver: marketing/communications and social media coordinator at UK’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (JOU, 2020)

• McKenna Horsley: reporter at the Kentucky Lantern (JOU, 2019)

• Evan Crane: senior associate director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations at UK (JOU, 2010) 

The symposium also honored Richard Wilson's legacy, with his friend and fellow alumnus Jack Guthrie speaking about his impact on journalism. 

"For students to learn about him, but also how important he thought it was to have alumni come back and share their experiences and engage with current students, shows his commitment to the future of journalism," DeVito said. “A lot has changed since Richard Wilson's time in terms of the digital content that exists now and the capability to do so much more. There are still many things that have not changed, including knowing how to write well, how to ask good questions, the importance of accuracy and clarity and being passionate about what you do.”