In today’s ever-changing media landscape, it’s essential to support the next generation of communication leaders.

A degree from the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI) can help these future leaders tell stories through data, words, strategy and evolving forms of media. For many first-generation students or students from low-income or underserved communities, scholarships can bridge a gap and make their CU Boulder education possible.

Gifts made to the CMCI General Scholarship Fund go directly to CMCI students within a year of being made.

You can mail a check (made out to the University of Colorado Foundation and with a note indicating CMCI scholarships) to:

University of Colorado Foundation
P.O. Box 17126
Denver, CO 80217

“Your generosity will help me continue working toward getting my bachelor’s degree. I am hoping to one day go to graduate school, and with your support, I am that much closer to reaching that dream. 
—Brooke Curry (Comm, Mus’23)

“I am the oldest of six children from a single-income household, and I am currently working three different jobs to pay my way through school. Because of your generous scholarship, I will be able to focus on my studies this year without concern for paying my tuition. 
—Rylee Vogel (Comm’23)

“This scholarship helps me breathe a little easier knowing that a part of my family’s struggles is getting lifted off of their plate—so this scholarship is not only for me, but also for my family. 
—Eduardo Torres (StratComm’24)

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Create your legacy at CMCI

Anyone can transform lives and help shape the future of CMCI through their estate planning, while also creating a personal legacy. There are giving vehicles that work for every age, situation and level of wealth, including leaving CMCI funds through:

• A bequest in a will of a specific amount or a percentage of an estate
• A retirement account beneficiary designation
• The gift of specific assets, such as appreciated stock

View more information on how you can make an impact at CMCI through your or contact Mary Beth Searles, assistant dean for advancement, at 303-492-1215 or via email.

When Paul Voakes, then dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, opened his mail during the last week of September 2008, he expected the usual assortment of academic business.

He didn’t expect a check for $778,000.

A letter from the estate of William S. Hemingway, a former employee of The Denver Post, contained that first check and the news that he’d left his entire estate to CU Boulder.

Over the next few months, more estate distributions arrived, totaling $1,340,190.72. It remains the largest estate gift received by the former school of journalism or the College of Media, Communication and Information.

Bill Hemingway started at The Denver Post copy desk in 1960 and worked in a variety of jobs until his retirement in 1991, including zone editor, photo editor, assistant make-up editor, assistant city editor and assistant editor of the paper’s Empire Magazine section, according to a funeral notice that ran in the Post.

In his retirement he traveled the world and volunteered as an exhibit guide at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Although he finalized his estate plans several years before he died in April 2008, he never told the university of the generous bequest he planned.

That element seems consistent with his personality. Those who worked with Hemingway at the Post remember him as a bit of a mystery.

“Bill Hemingway was a very quiet man,” says Pete Names, who worked alongside him at the Post for more than 30 years. “He came in, did his job well and went home to his small flat on Capitol Hill.”

Hemingway also was remembered for his fashion. “He always wore polyester suits—either two-piece or three-piece—always,” Names says. “He surprised all of us on his last day. He wore a designer tuxedo and worked his whole shift, quietly said goodbye and left. Kind of a class act.”

Hemingway’s gift created a scholarship endowment, first at the former school of journalism, and now at CMCI. Through market growth, the William S. Hemingway Scholarship Endowment has grown to $1.6 million and has funded awards to more than 350 students.

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“As demand for this content continues to grow, so does the need for journalists and multimedia storytellers to conceive and create it,” said Dean Lori Bergen. “With a multitude of media outlets generating and sharing immersive content, we want to ensure that our students are able to bring these skills into the professional working environment after graduation.”

The first project to roll out is an immersive technology lab opening this fall that will establish a dedicated space for the CMCI community.

“The lab will be a resource for both formal instruction and a place for faculty and students to experiment with virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree video,” said Bergen. “We’ll also have a few mobile units available for check out for projects in the field and outreach efforts.”

An influx of additional technology will support a number of curricular enhancements, including developing a multi-platform news service as a capstone course for all journalism students and breaking the current introductory news writing and multimedia course into two separate courses.

“In their final semester before graduation, all students will come together under the new model of a single capstone course – a blended, fully-functional, multimedia production lab,” said Elizabeth Skewes, chair of the Department of Journalism. “For introduction to reporting, students will take two courses simultaneously with one focusing on the foundations of good journalism, including generating story ideas, interviewing and writing, and the other immersing students in video and audio projects, as well as social media and web design.”

Additional planned technology infrastructure enhancements include lab upgrades to support innovative teaching and the installation of digital monitors to streamline checkout of equipment. Multimedia displays at high-traffic locations throughout the college will recognize student and alumni success, scholarship winners and faculty research, and will acknowledge the support of CMCI donors and foundation partners.

“We’re creating an environment in which students work with state-of-the-art equipment and software from the day they arrive until the day they graduate,” Bergen said. “This is the direction we’ve been moving in and the support from the Hearst Foundation makes it possible to accelerate the pace of these changes.”

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