OUR BIGGEST CAMPAIGN YET

In March, The University of Texas at Austin publicly launched the What Starts Here fundraising campaign — the biggest and boldest in university and state history — with a goal of raising $6 billion to make it the highest-impact public research university in the world.

It’s a bold but worthy ambition, one that we celebrate at Moody College.

As part of the campaign, we have set our own goal to raise at least $165 million, which will allow us to have the maximum impact on the future of communication and the world. We are on track to exceed that, with nearly $150 million in gifts so far supporting students, program endowments, capital projects, and experiential learning opportunities like UTLA and UTNY.

These donations are already making positive change. Last year, a $20 million legacy grant helped to establish the Moody College celebrates the kickoff of its capital campaign at a party outside the G.B. Dealey Center for New Media in March. Moody College Launches Capital Campaign renowned Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. And this fall, we’ll see the opening of the Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics, made possible by the Nelson family's $5 million gift.

Philanthropy — from the largest gifts down to a single dollar — allows us to innovate, explore new curriculum and re-envision programs, all of which impacts how we teach communication. Your support affords flexibility to try new things, form partnerships that will benefit our students, and provide resources that give us a competitive advantage in recruiting the most talented faculty and students.

But more than that, your contributions allow us to match passion with vision and affect the causes you care about. By giving to UT and Moody College, the scale of your impact is monumental.

And we can’t thank you enough.

In gratitude and Hook ‘Em,

ALLISON DAWSON
Moody College Chief Development Officer
allison.dawson@austin.utexas.edu

YOUR SUPPORT HELPS US EXPAND

Every gift given to Moody College between now and the conclusion of the What Starts Here will be counted in this effort, helping us to achieve major priorities, including:

Increasing student scholarships
Supporting internship stipends
Creating endowed chairs and professorships
Establishing new and funding existing centers, institutes and programs
Providing competitive graduate student incentives
Supporting the UTNY and UTLA programs
Paying for facilities upgrades, including a planned multimillion renovation of the world-famous Studio 6A, original home of Austin City Limits Live TV show.

Endowments Honor Moody Faculty, Support Graduate Students

Jonathan Tjarks Graduate Fellowship

Jonathan Tjarks, who graduated from UT Austin in 2009 and was a beloved sports reporter, often acknowledged how difficult and competitive it is to get into the journalism field today. It’s why, this year, the Simmons Family Foundation set up a fellowship in his honor to cover the cost of tuition and living expenses for one graduate student from a historically Black college or university to pursue their education in

longform storytelling. Tjarks was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in April. His family, friends, colleagues and the university were saddened by his loss this past September. The fellowship, which will begin in fall 2023, will help continue his legacy. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1.

Cheers, For Now: The Dominic Lasorsa Excellence Fund

Dominic “Nick” Lasorsa, who was an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Media for thirty years, had a strong bond with his students up until his death in 2020. His graduate students held a special place in his heart. That’s why, after his death, his husband, Richard Scroggins, established an endowment in his name known as “Cheers, For Now,” for the way he always signed off emails. The endowment supports graduate student research in the School of Journalism and Media, to cover expenses such as surveys and travel. In its first two years, Cheers, For Now, has more than doubled in value, with nearly $60,000 in gifts, making it one of the fastest growing funds built by individual contributions.

In April 2021 the inaugural Cheers, for Now awards were presented to three outstanding graduate students. With an annual matching grant fundraiser each August, the endowment, over the next nine years, is on track to grow into a substantial fund, allowing even more grants to deserving graduate students.

The Tom Schatz Endowed Excellence Fund

In his more than four decades at UT, Tom Schatz provided dedicated and tireless service to the Department of Radio-Television- Film, where he taught more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. He was a three-time department chair and

authored five books, with two more forthcoming. More than that, he remains a devoted family man, friend, colleague, teacher and leader in the field. Whether engaging a lecture hall of undergraduates or encouraging his master’s and doctoral students to dig into archival materials, Tom has always pushed his students and colleagues to produce their best scholarly and creative work. After his retirement in 2021, the Tom Schatz Endowed Excellence Fund was established in his name, which aims to improve the lives of graduate students by subsidizing recipients throughout the dissertation writing process. So far, the endowment has received nearly $35,000 in gifts. The goal is to build a $250,000 legacy fund, a number that does not come close to measuring his impact.

$5M Gift Creates Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics

Moody College of Communication is poised to become a leader in advertising analytics with the creation of the new Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics. Part of the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations, it will offer a first-of-its-kind student academic program focused on brand and demand analytics that will give advertising and public relations students the skills and capabilities they need to distinguish themselves in the competitive job market. The Center will also include an industry partners program that will connect students with client and agency organizations through case studies, real-world projects, research and events.

Jim and Mary Pat Nelson, whose four daughters graduated from Moody College, donated $5 million to create the center, after recognizing the transformative power of marketing analytics in their business, Warren CAT, headquartered in Midland, Texas. Today, both B2B and consumer-based businesses are increasingly dependent on analytics for a variety of brand and advertising functions, such as audience creation, segmentation, brand positioning and campaign evaluation. Today’s students who seek careers in marketing-centric domains increasingly need not only analytics skills, but also critical reasoning and communication skills to glean insights from data in order to make informed business and marketing decisions. The Nelson center will forge a new path to integrate these hard and soft skills to make students more industry ready.

The Center is co-directed by Advertising & Public Relations professors Matt Eastin and JoAnn Sciarrino and will be located in the newly renovated Jesse H. Jones Communication Building B. It will become a hub for students and industry professionals to collaborate on projects. The Nelsons’ gift will also support faculty members specializing in media analytics, digital media, branding, social media, entrepreneurship and innovation to conduct their research alongside students.