The Merrill College has almost 7,000 alumni, and they are a distinguished group. They are corporate executives, lawyers, highly successful entrepreneurs and own thriving businesses. They are among the top sports broadcasters in the country and hold high-level positions at some of the best newspapers in America.

The college is very proud of its alumni and wants to recognize their success and the impact that a journalism degree has had in their careers. So we are creating an invitation-only Dean’s Circle.

The Dean’s Circle will give our most successful alumni a chance to get to know each other and meet. The College will sponsor an annual networking event, create an exclusive section on our Website for members, will invite small groups of members to “Dinner with the Dean” during the year and will extend VIP invitations to university activities.

The Dean’s Circle will comprise alumni who commit to giving $1,000 a year to the College. This revenue stream will increase alumni support for the College’s ambitious plans: a new building, new programs and scholarships.

The Merrill College is already recognized as one of the best journalism programs in the country, with a stellar reputation that our outstanding alumni helped to create. Our superb faculty includes 5 Pulitzer Prize winners – far more than any other public or private university in the country. And our admissions policy is even more selective than the university’s, ensuring that we have the highest-caliber students.

But the Merrill College wants to aim even higher:

• We are planning for a new, state-of-the-art building that will help the college achieve even greater stature and provide unparalleled learning opportunities for its students.
• We are creating new programs that will prepare our students for the challenges of the future, no matter what field they pursue.
• With the cost of college tuition rising almost every year, we are working to find ways to increase scholarship aid so that we can continue to attract the best students in the country.

We expect that through the Dean’s Circle – an opportunity for our most successful alumni to network and connect – the College will find the necessary increased financial support to become the top-ranked journalism program in the country.