The Sport Communication Club delivered a huge success with the production of their first annual Forum on Sport. This year, the title was "Institutions under Siege" and discussed the impact of the recent scandals of Penn State, Syracuse, and others as well as their impact on society, morality, sports, and culture. The even brought together five incredibly talented scholars and practitioners in Dr. Dan O'Rourke (Communication Studies), Dr. Diane Bonfiglio (Psychology), Dean Dan Lawson (Religious Life), Professor Mattew Tullis (Journalism and Digital Media), and Mr. Al King (Athletics). The event began with words of welcome from Associate Dean Mike Hupfer and then Sport Communication Club member Kevin Stoicovy took over as the moderator. For the next 60+ minutes the audience was treated to some of the most robust and insightful dialogue about the concepts of sport, secrecy, moral obligation, societal impact, sexual abuse, and the greater conversation of where do we go from here. Perhaps it was Communication Studies very own Dr. Dan O'Rourke who so eloquently illuminated the greater teaching moments of such scandals and crises when he said "The only possible good thing to come out of Penn State is if we talk about it...It gives us a chance to do something about this issue."
Martcus Walsh, President of the Sport Communication Club said at the conclusion of the event, "It was great to sit back and watch everything flow smoothly and naturally last night, and I was honored to be a part of this worthwhile forum. I think we can have something special in the Department of Communication Studies as this series continues. Kathryn Lentz, Vice President of the Sport Communication Club said "I really liked being apart of this event. We are a small club, but we have big aspirations. All the faculty and staff that were apart of this forum were very insightful and showed a lot of care in this topic."
Special thanks to our panelists Dr. Daniel O'Rourke, Dean Dan Lawson, Dr. Diane Bonfiglio, Mr. Matthew Tullis, and Mr. Al King for their wonderful contributions. Thanks also to the wonderful folks in Journalism and Digital Media for their production support of the event.
