“This is a very special day, ” said Medill Dean Loren Ghiglione, as he introduced Rance Crain, the supporter of the lecture series named for his parents, Gertrude and G.D. Crain Jr.
In addition to marking the inauguration of the McCormick Tribune Center, Monday witnessed a unique panel of speakers, made up of several Medill alumni spanning from 1928 until 2002, who reflected for an audience of about 50 faculty, staff, alumni and students on the impact the Medill School of Journalism had on each of their lives.
Recalling his years as a student at Medill, writer and Chicago arts critic Peter Jacobi praised the school for the education it provides.
“Medill shaped me and undoubtedly still does,” said Jacobi, Medill ’53, who later joined the school’s faculty. “It remains at the center of my memories. I love Medill, its motivating spirit and now this marvelous new building, which is a testament (to) Medill’s growth towards better writing, better teaching and better living.”
The lecture series came into existence as a result of Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications Inc., co-chairman of the board of visitors for the lecture series and Medill alumnus who gave $1 million in support of the lecture series dedicated to his parents.
“(The lecture series) is a tremendous opportunity, and I’m so delighted it’s going so well,” said Rance Crain, Medill ’60. “I couldn’t ask for something better to have in (my parents’) memory.”
The series was the idea of former Medill Dean Ken Bode. It became a reality in September 1998 with Crain’s support, and since then has afforded students the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences of leading journalists such as veteran Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward.
“My mom and dad were thrilled to be journalists and they had two characteristics that every journalist should have,” Rance Crain said. “They had enthusiasm about life and journalism … and they were indefatigable.”
G.D. Crain founded Crain Communications in 1916 in Louisville, Ky., and fathered much of the advertising age in publication, even through the Great Depression.
“My father would call advertisers, and advertisers — though impressed by his enthusiasm — would laugh at his enthusiasm and would tell him, ‘We don’t have money for you now,'” Rance Crain said. “He said that even if he had known ahead of time about the Depression, he still would have done everything he did.”
Gertrude Crain took over Crain Communications and acted as chairwoman of the company for more than 20 years. She is remembered for her enthusiasm as well.
“Once we worked on automotive publications, my brother arranged for my mother to go around in a full-blown race car around the entire race track,” Rance Crain said. “People would call her the ‘gutsy grandma.'”
Among other alumni speakers was Laura Washington, a publisher of The Chicago Reporter, past producer for WBBM-AM (780), past commentator for WBEZ-FM (91.5) and former press secretary for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in the mid-1980s.
Laura Washington, Medill ’80, reminisced about the rising interest in journalism during her time at Medill in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the Watergate scandal and the increase of minorities and women in journalism.
“We all wanted to be famous and all wanted to be Woodwards and Bernsteins,” she said. “When I got to Medill, I realized journalism is about the nuts and bolts, ethics and accuracy, and most of all about your credibility. … My foundation at Medill has made all the difference for me and my classmates.”
