While Manship School of Mass Communication students may only earn degrees in mass communication, the paths they take can lead anywhere, from exposing political corruption at city hall to overseeing policies that affect hundreds of thousands of people to narrating LSU football games over the screams of fans every weekend.
These are the lives led by three Manship School alumni and soon-to-be Hall-of-Famers — the late Frank Donze, Kim Hunter Reed, Ph.D and Lyn Rollins.
LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication announced the three Manship School Hall of Fame inductees of 2019, who will receive the official honor at the 45th Annual Manship School Hall of Fame Gala in April.
Frank Donze started his career as a sports editor for The Daily Reveille until his 1977 graduation from the Manship School. From there, Donze worked for The Times-Picayune for decades, being called one of the best New Orleans political reporters of his generation by The New Orleans Advocate.
Bruce Nolan, a colleague of Donze’s for over 30 years, said Donze was always known for being authentic, fair and a true journalist for the New Orleans people.
“He wasn’t an elite, he wasn’t an ivy leaguer, he didn’t have a graduate degree from Columbia,” Nolan said. “He was a New Orleanian to the bottom of his feet. He was a native son who perfectly understood the rhythms of the city and was able to explain those to the people who lived here.”
Clancy DuBos, a political columnist and lifelong friend of Donze, said Donze was naturally talented and regarded him as a “humble star.”
“He just had a marvelous way of looking at the world and holding a mirror up to it,” said DuBos. “[Donze’s death] affected the journalistic community like a punch in the gut. The lesson I think he would’ve taught to young journalists is to never lose sight of your own or anyone else’s humanity.”
Donze and his team won two Pulitzer Prizes, a George Polk Award, a National Headliner Award and the Medill Award for Courage in Journalism for their work during Hurricane Katrina.
“I do hope that his example will inspire students at the Manship school the same way he inspired those of us who knew him and worked with him,” added DuBos.
Reed graduated from the Manship school in 1987. She currently works as Louisiana’s Commissioner of Higher Education, overseeing policy for the state’s public colleges and over 200,000 students. Reed also served as deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Education under former President Barack Obama served as deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Education under former President Barack Obama also served as deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Education under former President Barack Obama served as deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Education under former President Barack Obama.
Reed received Alumna of the Year by the LSU Public Administration Institute and has been featured in the national magazine Daughters of Men which presents inspirational African American women and their fathers.
Rollins had a love for journalism since his youth and graduated from the Manship school in 1988. Since then, he has become the LSU lead play-by-play sports broadcaster for SEC ESPN.
Rollins has covered a variety of LSU sports, including football, gymnastics, soccer, softball and volleyball. He has been named the Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year four times.
Rollins said when calling games, he tries to imagine it through the perspective of a 10-year-old boy seeing the game with a family member, and tries to emulate that same joy through his broadcasts.
“That stays with you,” Rollins said. “It’s what sports can do in families. It can build a legacy and a tradition and thread from generation to generation. And they’re going to remember for the rest of their life.”
Manship School Dean Martin Johnson said he is excited for this group of inductees and what students can learn from their careers.
“We’re proud of them,” Johnson said. “They exemplify the breadth of the things that Manship school graduates go on to do in their careers.”
The inductees will be honored at the 45th Annual Manship Hall of Fame Gala on April 10 at Juban’s Creole Restaurant.
