Journalism Hall of Fame to honor five
Five influential figures in the history of CMU journalism will join its elite Hall of Fame this year.
This year’s inductees include: Jim Wojcik, Cheerie Anderson, James Stanford Bradshaw, Ralph Langer and David Smith.
A ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Comfort Inn, 2424 S. Mission St., to honor the five inductees. A welcoming reception will begin at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets will cost $50 and are available at Moore Hall 129 or by calling 774-1885.
The five inductees will join Gilbert O. Maienknecht, who became the Journalism Hall of Fame’s first inductee last Fall. He helped the founding of CMU’s journalism department, being its first chairman in 1959.
Cheerie Anderson
Anderson will receive honorary status into the Hall of Fame as she is the only known member of the CMU student newspaper staff to have been killed in the line of duty. She died April 7, 1963, when a cornice fell, killing her and two other students while she was covering a fire.
Anderson was driving along M-20 with her fiancee, John Carroll, when they noticed a fire truck and followed it to the Campus Grill, where the Student Book Exchange, 209 E. Bellows St., now stands.
Carroll was a volunteer fireman and was helping put the fire out while Anderson was shooting photographs. A few minutes later he was shocked to hear the roar of falling debris on the south side of the building where he found Anderson under a pile of bricks.
The two met when they both performed with the CMU Marching Band. They had planned to marry that August.
Carroll said he thought the CMU Journalism Hall of Fame might be proper recognition for Anderson.
James Stanford Bradshaw
The late Bradshaw earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1947 and spent 20 years traveling the world as a writer and reporter before settling down and joining the CMU faculty in 1968.
Jim Knight, 1984 CMU Graduate, and current sports editor of The Ann Arbor News, remembers Bradshaw for being a great teacher.
Bradshaw would teach not from the front of the classroom, but from a chair in the middle, surrounded by a semicircle of students, and he would tell stories from his days as a reporter, Knight said. His teachings have served him for the past 19 years working in journalism, he said.
Bradshaw taught at CMU until 1984, including a brief stint in Kingston, Jamaica, from 1977 through 1978 as part of the Fulbright Scholarship Program. He also taught in Xiamen, China for a year after retiring.
He died in 1990.
Ralph Langer
“I’m extremely pleased and honored. It never had occurred to me,” Langer said. “It’s a sincere honor and I’m very appreciative of it.”
Langer attended CMU from 1955 to 1957. He earned his degree from the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and psychology because CMU did not offer a journalism degree at that time.
While attending CMU he served as a columnist, reporter and photographer for CM Life. He also was the photo editor of the Chippewa Yearbook and sports and events photographer for Information Services, now public relations and marketing.
Langer referred to the “sheep sheds” Central Michigan Life once operated out of until 1965. The “sheds” were located on Preston and Washington streets.
“It was a great experience. It was a great couple of years and presented a lot of opportunities that I hope helped me in my later achievements,” he said.
After graduating, he worked for the Grand Haven Tribune, the Port Angeles (Wash.) Daily News, the Detroit Free Press, the Dayton Journal Herald and the Everett (Wash.) Herald.
He joined The Dallas Morning News in 1981 as managing editor, was promoted five times, and retired in 1999 as editor and executive vice president.
David Smith
Smith, editor-at-large for Ward’s Communications, attended CMU for three years between 1954 and 1956 before he also left to attend the University of Michigan.
“I was surprised because I’m not a graduate of Central but I’m honored and delighted,” Smith said. “To have someone who’s not a graduate, that’s very gratifying.”
Smith remembers the time he enjoyed at CMU well, having returned from the Korean War and being one of many veterans attending the school.
He recalls everything from being carded at bars like The Bird Bar and Grill, 223 S. Main St., and The Cabin, 930 W. Broomfield Road, to the inspirational guidance he was given from professors like Maienknecht and Ivan Cole.
“I had a great time at CMU,” he said. “For me it was like going back to high school because I had been in the marine corps. It gave me a chance to pursue a career in journalism.”
He was an inspiring sports writer and remembers writing stories about a multi-talented farmboy from Mount Morris who later went on to play football for the Washington Redskins, he said.
“That gave me a lot to write about. We had quite a thing going,” he said. “I remember getting a byline in the Grand Rapids Press one day. We wrote it to get some PR for the college and we were getting picked up all over the place.”
Smith said his brother was a sports writer for the Detroit Times and that he was able to get work at the paper between 1954 and 1956 while still attending CMU.
After graduation, he also worked for the Toledo Blade, the Wall Street Journal and the Detroit Free Press before shepherding the growth of Ward’s Auto World, one of the automotive industry’s most respected trade journals.
Jim Wojcik
Former CM Lifer Richard Fitzgerald, managing editor for The Ann Arbor News, said that if Maienknecht is the father of the CMU journalism program, then Wojcik is the heart and soul.
“I think in many regards, Jim Wojcik is Central Michigan University journalism,” Fitzgerald said. “Not only has he taught journalism day to day, but he’s also been in the classroom at CMU, and he’s helped so many people find jobs in journalism. He is often the public face of the journalism program.”
Wojcik earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from CMU in 1965 and 1968, respectively. He also served as director of student publications at CMU for 28 years.
Wojcik helped create the Lem Tucker Journalism Scholarship Program, the CMU Professionals in Residence program as well as the establishment of the Journalism Hall of Fame.
“I thought there was no more fitting person to be in the second class than Jim Wojcik,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he started working for CM Life right away when he came to CMU in the fall of 1971 and had the opportunity to work closely with Wojcik who was in the beginning of his reign as director of student publications
