Samford University’s journalism and mass communication (JMC) department celebrated its founder at a special homecoming event Nov. 16. Jasper “Jack” Cunningham Hutto joined the elite alumni of the department’s Wall of Fame as alumni, students and faculty learned of his many accomplishments.
Hutto, a 1909 and 1910 alumnus, excelled in oratory at what was then Howard College and took part in various student publications, including the Howard Collegian newspaper.
Hutto was keenly attracted to the life of journalism but for most of his undergraduate experience there was no academic journalism program in the nation, said JMC professor Julie Hedgepeth Williams. That changed with the 1908 founding of a program at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.
After earning a master’s degree from Howard College, Hutto enrolled in Missouri’s new program and returned to the state with a rare degree and unique expertise. After working with The Montgomery Advertiser and The Birmingham News, Hutto convinced Howard College to let him create what is now the oldest journalism program in the region.
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