Early Friday two legendary members of the Ball State journalismcommunity came together at the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville,Tenn. and reiterated Ball State's important role in the evolutionof college journalism.
Louis Ingelhart, retired journalism professor and Ball Statejournalism department head from 1953-1978, presented the eponymousLouis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award to Gene Policinski, a 1972Ball State graduate and executive director of the First AmendmentCenter in Nashville. Policinski was editor-in-chief of the DailyNews in 1972.
Ingelhart and Policinski have been friends since Policinski'searly days at Ball State.
"He was a student while I was here. And he was in my classes,and worked on the staff of the newspaper, and became a senator. Andhe married my student secretary. She was a very pretty girl,"Ingelhart said.
Policinski said he claims Ingelhart as a major inspiration androle model.
"I came to Ball State a million years ago (1968). Lou was headof the center for journalism at that time," Policinski said. "Thefirst time I talked to Lou Inglehart was actually when I showed upto work as a janitor. I cleaned the classrooms in the oldjournalism building, the house that we had at that time.
"Lou was very instrumental in me meeting my wife, and obviouslygetting started in my career. And he's been that rock throughout mycareer. And then to get the award that's named for him is justbeyond belief," Policinski said.
According to Ingelhart, the award was created in the late '70sto recognize members of the journalism community who haveexceptionally promoted and protected First Amendment rights, andhas been awarded to professionals, educators, and a few studentsover the years.
The award winner is selected by a committee, and it was awardedthis year to Policinski for his work with the First AmendmentCenter.
The First Amendment Center is an organization committed toeducation about the First Amendment, which gives the press in theUnited States freedom of expression, Policinski said.
One of the programs the First Amendment Center produces isFreedom Sings, which combines live music with information about therole of music in the great national conversation and free speech.Policinski currently narrates the program.
"[The First Amendment Center tries] to support First Amendmentattitudes and activities, because there are always people who'dlike to shut it all down, and some of them are government agencies,some are religious agencies, and some are competitive agencies.There are all kinds of pitfalls that journalists can fall into,"Ingelhart said.
"They honored not so much me, I think, as my colleagues and thework that the First Amendment Center does," Policinski said.
Policinski said Freedom Sings helps present the First Amendmentin a new way that will get more people interested.
"Frankly, if you walk onto a college campus or into aprofessional organization, and say 'Hi, I'm here to talk for 90minutes about the First Amendment,' the next sound you're going tohear is foreheads thumping the table out of boredom," Policinskisaid. "But if you walk in and say, 'We have a great band, and wehave music that's going to inspire you, and by the way, it's allabout the First Amendment,' people go, 'Oh.' We bring the messagein an interesting way."
Policinski, following a performance of Freedom Sings at theCollege Media Advisors convention in Nashville Friday afternoon,said Ingelhart was one of the nation's major advocates of FirstAmendment rights.
"There are people [at the convention] from all over America, andthe single face that they associate with free expression and FirstAmendment freedoms is Lou Ingelhart. And that's an incredibletestimony to your career," Policinski said.
Ingelhart was instrumental in the development of Ball State'sjournalism program, and said he's still proud of the legacy theschool has.
"One of the best things about Ball State University is that thestudents have freedom of expression," Ingelhart said.
So when these two men came together, both deeply embedded in thefabric of the Ball State journalism community, whose work in thefield of journalism and First Amendment rights is nationallyrecognized, it was a momentious event.
"To have Lou give you an award that's named for him is anincomparable honor," Policinski said. "I don't know that I everhave or ever will get anything quite on par with it. It was justone of the greatest moments of my life."
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