College of Fine Arts and Communication 2023 Report

1986 HISTORY of the Col lege Cont inued - 1986 - 1989 - 1992 1986 Steven Beebe joins the faculty as chair of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts and serves as chair of Speech Comm until 2014. - In Physical Education, Division of Dance created; Joan Hays serves as director until 2002. (PICTURED) 1987 In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, theatre faculty member Charles Pascoe writes and tours The Next Amendment . 1988 Theatre Arts becomes a separate department from Speech Communication, with FredMarch as its first chair. - Communication Studies holds its first COMM Week and it grows into an annual event featuring national and international guest speakers. 1989 Jerry Supple comes from the State University of New York system to become SWT’s president. (PICTURED) - For fine arts, changes include international exchanges in choral music and instrumental ensembles, a recognized jazz program, and for the first time, a sustained orchestra. It also means a state-of-the-art broadcast training area in the new Alkek Library. - Jazz Studies hosts its first Hill Country Jazz Festival on campus. 1990 Of the 20,940 university enrollment, 2,095 are fine arts and communication majors. Early 1990s The American Advertising Federation team, the Image Makers outperforms 12 other university teams in St. Louis, Missouri taking first place. 1991 The first Mass CommunicationWeek is held and becomes an annual event. - Bachelor’s degree in musical theatre is approved. 1992 The university’s radio station, KTSW-FM89.9, officially goes on the air April 15. (PICTURED) - The university buys the Fire Station Studio on Guadalupe Street, a refurbished sound recording facility that was built in 1915 as a city hall and fire station. - Bachelor’s degree in sound recording technology is approved, the first such degree program in the Southwest. 1993 The JournalismDepartment begins use of television studios on the first floor of the Alkek Library for on-the-job training for students in the broadcast sequence. 1997 Master’s degree in mass communication is approved. 1998 Bachelor’s degree in dance is approved. 1998-99 Fine Arts and Communication helps the university celebrate its Centennial. Music’s John Paul Johnson organizes the Centennial Singers (now VocaLibre). 1999 A gift of $1.2 million from the estate of Reed Brantley Parr and her late husband Lewis. Half of the gift goes to Fine Arts and Communication for an endowment. 2000 Enrollment reaches 22,423 with 3,030 fine arts and communication majors. Music hosts its first Feria del Mariachi. 32 College Report 2023