Three alumni from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication were honored at the 33rd annual Gutenberg event on Thursday before Homecoming Weekend. The event took place at the 201 Mesquite Event Center with students, faculty and alumni in attendance.

The Gutenberg is a yearly event put on by the department that honors three select JMC alumni per year, said Dr. Kenneth Pybus, chair of the JMC department. This year’s honorees include Matt McKinney (’93), ShaVonne Herndon (’06), and Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee (’11).

“The goal is to recognize our top graduates and alumni,” Pybus said, “to recognize the work they’re doing, highlight their success and to celebrate them and praise them.”

Pybus said another important goal of Gutenberg is to connect students to the honorees and alumni for guidance and career help.

“I’ve seen many examples of students using the connections with the honorees for internships in the future, and internships lead to full-time employment,” Pybus said. 

In addition to the acknowledgement of their achievements, the honorees receive a physical gift that reflects the history of mass communication. 

“All of our honorees receive a replica of the Gutenberg Press that was designed in 1445 by Johannes Gutenberg,” Pybus said. “It is to symbolize just how significant the Gutenberg press was to communication and to democratizing communication.” 

Kaitlyn Olson, the Gutenberg account director for Morris+Mitchell, said this is a great opportunity to connect with the honorees. 

“It’s a great opportunity for students to network with these alumni and get to create these connections with people that are in the field that they’re wanting to go into,” said Olson, junior theatre major with an advertising and public relations minor from The Woodlands. 

Olson said the event is open to all JMC majors and minors, with admission being free for students, and is an opportunity for students to grow in professional skills. 

“It’s a great event to be at,” Olson said, “If you haven’t done networking before, it’s a great insight into what that’s like because our industry is all about networking.”