Students are struggling to reach particular professors and departments. Student Media is struggling to get interviews with faculty members who feel like it’s unsafe to go on the record. 

Recently, one department that has been guilty of not being available is accessibility services. Student Media has reached out to the department multiple times and was advised to talk to Heather Popejoy, and she declined speaking with the media. 

We understand you are very busy with your work. But we are also extremely busy with school, jobs and internships. We’re doing our best to manage it all and we just ask that you are also doing your best. 

If you miss an email, no worries. But when we reach out multiple times through multiple contact options and hear nothing back, then that’s a problem that needs to be addressed. 

I’ve had multiple reporters say they can’t write their stories because professors and staff are declining interviews. This becomes frustrating when the best source of information isn’t willing to help. We cannot do our jobs when people aren’t doing theirs. 

Some faculty members will deny interviews and claim ‘I don’t talk to the press.’ To those faculty members, I want you to know that we aren’t your enemy. 

It’s not fair to students that the people who are supposed to help us aren’t available. That’s not just Student Media’s issue, that’s an issue for all Washburn students. 

Full-time professors should have office hours dedicated to students and their needs. You are the ones who are supposed to advise us and help us succeed, so make the time to meet with us. 

It’s obviously not fair to generalize all professors in this category. There are several professors who are always available to their students and some who are always willing to do an interview. 

Student Media staff would like to give credit to some faculty that we appreciate professionally and personally, such as: 

• Eric McHenry, professor of English
• Tonya Ricklefs, associate professor of social work
• Sarah Holt, instructional librarian
• Bruce Mactavish, assistant professor of history
• Kimberly Gerhardt-Whiddon, lecturer of criminal justice
• Anna-Marie Lauppe, adjunct of psychology
• Kristen Grimmer, associate professor and chair of mass media
• Lori Hutchinson, executive director strategic communications and marketing

We especially appreciate Regina Cassell, director of Student Media, as she is the backbone of our organization and makes time for all students regardless of whether they are mass media majors. She doesn’t like to be called out, but sometimes it’s necessary to give credit where credit is due. 

We’d also like to note all the work that the athletics communication department does for us. Gene Cassell, assistant athletic director for communications, Kyle Manthe, assistant athletic communications director, and Nicholas Gainey, athletic communications intern, make it easy to cover sports games and interview athletes. 

When we asked Washburn students outside of our organization who they wanted to give a shoutout to, they mentioned: 

• Chris Jones, associate professor of religious studies
• Carson Kay, assistant professor of communication studies
• Sam Finch, lecturer of mass media
• Lauren Edelman, lecturer of interdisciplinary studies 
• Alex Myers, lecturer of sociology 
• Julie Noonan, associate professor and director of theatre
• Georgina Tenny, senior lecturer of modern languages

As students of Washburn, we are grateful to the professors who truly want us to succeed and do well. Thank you for your dedication to us. Most of the time professors don’t get enough credit for all their work, and sometimes we can appear ungrateful. We are appreciative of you and your hard work doesn’t go unseen. 

If you are not able to be available to students, then maybe you should reconsider your schedule and the amount of responsibilities you take on. 

We’re media, but first and foremost we are students. We should be a priority.

Edited by Stuti Khadka and Jeremy Ford