The SJMC Alumni Quiz Bowl with Aaron Pearson, Barb Hemberger and Walt Parker

Your membership helps the SJMC Alumni Society provide programs and services in support of the school and its students.

The society is responsible for a variety of successful initiatives, including:

• Sponsoring the student mentor program,
• Hosting the Twin Cities Media Stars Quiz Bowl, and
• Naming a recipient fo the Alumni Award for Excellence

With an alumni base of nearly 10,000 members, the SJMC is in a unique position to provide professional assistance to students. One of the ways the School helps students connect with alumni is through a student mentoring program sponsored by the Alumni Society. For the last two decades, the SJMC alumni board has made hundreds of mentoring matches, connecting SJMC juniors, seniors and graduate students with professionals willing to share their experiences. Together, mentoring pairs create individualized action plans that help students with career exploration, experiential learning, networking, and skill building. The time commitment is approximately two hours per month and is determined by the mentor and student during initial meetings. If you’d like to become a mentor, email the Alumni Society board at sjmc@umn.edu.

The Alumni Society also hosts an annual Twin Cities Media Stars Quiz Bowl, typically held in January. The event brings together some of the Twin Cities best and brightest reporters, anchors, editors and public relations and advertising executives to test their knowledge of Minnesota news and events. View the University event calendar for details.

Every year, the SJMC Alumni Society Board names a recipient of the Alumni Award for Excellence. The award is given to an SJMC alumni/ae who exemplifies excellence, leadership, and creativity in his or her chosen field. The award, first given in 1980, has been awarded to graduates of the School representing many different facets of the communications industry, including advertising, public relations, print journalism, broadcast journalism, photography, and academia. View a list of the Alumni Award for Excellence recipients here.