History
The School of Communication was established in 1966 as the first school
outside of metropolitan Manila to offer a degree program in journalism.
Its founding director was D. Wayne Rowland, Ph.D., a visiting professor
in journalism from Texas Christian University.
When Dr. Rowland came to
Silliman in 1965, he did an exhaustive study of journalism and journalism
education in the Philippines. Shortly thereafter he submitted four proposals
to the Silliman University Board of Trustees and the Board approved
one that called for the establishment of a School of Journalism and
Communications. The curriculum was designed so that the School would
serve as “a catalyst for the development of the community press
in the Philippines – to carry out its distinctive and primary
role…as a community newspaper center in a provincial and Asian
setting, giving special attention to increasing and improving newspapers
in the provinces and rural communities.”
The School opened in July
1966 with three faculty members and ten students enrolled either in
the four-year Bachelor of Journalism degree program or for the A.B.,
major in journalism and creative writing.
When Rowland left after
a year, Atty. Alexander Amor, LL.B. ’55, who had been a journalism
lecturer and adviser of the Sillimanian for a number of years, served
as acting director. The following school year, Dr. Crispin Maslog (Litt.B.
and Ph.B., University of Sto. Tomas, and M.A. and Ph.D. in journalism
and mass communication, University of Minnesota) assumed as director.
In 1976 the Board of Trustees
approved two major revisions proposed by the faculty: to change the
name of the school to School of Communication and the degree to Bachelor
of Mass Communication, to cover the expanding field of mass communication.
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