SUMMER 2023 NEWSLETTER
Celebrating our accomplished members
Praise for Bey-Ling Sha, the Latest Barrow Recipient
By Nathaniel Frederick and Kathleen McElroy
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During the recent CSMN Zoom business meeting, Bey-Ling Sha maintained a calm expression as member after member praised her selection as the 2023 Barrow Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education. Dr. Sha, dean of California State University’s Fullerton’s College of Communications, later described what it was like hearing all the accolades. “I didn’t grow up in a family that generously overflowed with positive affirmations, so receiving accolades without downplaying them or myself is something that I’ve learned to do over time,” Dr. Sha said. “It’s a humbling and thrilling experience to know that I’ve made a difference for some people along the way.”
She certainly has. A researcher, teacher, administrator and communications professional, Dr. Sha explores the intersection of cultural identity and public relations. Since her days as a graduate student, Dr. Sha has advocated a theory and practice of what she called “intercultural public relations,” in which organizations should take into account the cultural identities of stakeholders in all aspects of their communications, both internal and external.
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Demonstrating her scholarly expertise and pragmatic commitment to this theory, Dr. Sha has more than 25 years of teaching and service contributions to racial and ethnic minorities, including creating a Spanish-English bilingual media writing program at San Diego State University and championing Cal State Fullerton’s Latino Communications Institute. She also exhorted the Public Relations Society of America more than 20 years ago to start collecting racial- and gender-identity data from its members, so that progress on DEI could actually be measured.
The award is presented annually by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and supported by the Minorities and Communication (MAC) Division and CSMN, which announced Dr. Sha as the recipient in late May. Dr. Sha will be honored at the MAC Awards and Social on Aug. 9 during the 2023 AEJMC Conference in Washington, D.C. The award, first given in 2009, is named for Dr. Lionel C. Barrow Jr. (1926-2009), an advertising executive-turned-academic who was a driving force in diversifying what is now known as AEJMC. The Barrow Award recognizes outstanding individual accomplishment and leadership in diversity efforts for underrepresented groups in journalism and mass communication.
Past MAC chair Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez (the 2018 Barrow winner), one of the CSMN members praising Dr. Sha during the business meeting, wrote in her recommendation letter that the dean is an “outstanding trailblazer, truth-seeker and role model who has played a major role in advancing DEI issues in journalism and mass communication in higher education.” In her nomination letter, Dr. Dorothy Bland, who also commended Dr. Sha during the meeting, described her as a “global connector as well as a community builder.”
Dr. Sha’s other recognitions include the Bruce K. Berger Educator Mentor Award from the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations; the President’s Award from the Society of Professional Journalists; the Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations; and the D. Parke Gibson Pioneer Award from the Public Relations Society of America, an award recognizing public relations professionals who have contributed awareness of public relations within multicultural communities and promoted the educational needs of diverse communities.
Dr. Sha has more on her plate. She was recently elected AEJMC’s Vice President, a position she begins Oct. 1. Now on the leadership leader, she is scheduled to be the organization’s president in 2025. She said it’s too early to predict what diversity might look like in higher education and at AEJMC. “The DEIJ landscape is changing very rapidly, both nationally and in various microcosms across the nation, and seemingly on a daily basis,” she said. “So it’s really hard to say, right now in 2023, what my specific plans for DEIJ would be when my presidential term starts in October 2025. Nevertheless, I am certain that DEIJ will continue to dominate our work in higher education and in journalism and mass communication. And this is because both education and journalism are about sustaining democracy, which simply can’t live up to its true potential unless DEIJ is part of it.”
Previous Recipients of the Lionel C. Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education:
2022 — Sharon Bramlett-Solomon, Arizona State
2021 — Earnest Perry, University of Missouri
2020 — Meta Carstarphen, Oklahoma
2019 — Rochelle Ford, Elon
2018 — Mia Moody-Ramirez, Baylor
2017 — Loren Ghiglione, Northwestern
2016 — Joel Beeson, West Virginia
2015 — Alice Tait, Central Michigan
2014 — Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, Marketing and Media Consultant
2013 — Clint C. Wilson II, Howard
2012 — Federico Subervi, Texas State University
2011 — Félix Gutiérrez, Southern California
2010 — Robert M. Ruggles, Florida A&M
2009 — Paula M. Poindexter, Texas at Austin
Dr. Dorothy Bland named National News Faculty Champion
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The Minorities and Communication Division and the CSMN extend hearty congratulations Dr. Dorothy Bland of the University of North Texas Mayborn School of Journalism who continues to be an exemplar as practitioner and media scholar. Dr Bland, whose stellar career in journalism spans 25 years, was named one of 33 Center for Community News Faculty Champions across the nation in 2023 for the work she is doing with the Scripps Howard Fund Emerging Journalists Program. Dr Bland is the principal investigator for the $300,000 Scripps Howard Fund grant, which has been extended through 2024. You can read more at https://www.uvm.edu/ccn/faculty-champions-program.
In addition to her stellar contribution in bridging the media industry and academy, Dr. Dorothy Bland was one of 12 educators who participated in the Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy at the University of Texas El Paso in June 2023. You can find the link to the Borderzine projects by visiting https://borderzine.com/.
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