Alumni visits, celebration and parade highlight Homecoming in Bellisario College

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Class visits and lectures from award-winning alumni, a celebration of 20 years of student success and opportunity in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, and the student-produced livestream of the annual parade highlight Penn State Homecoming activities in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications during the week of Oct. 9-13.

Alumnus Jeff Ballou, a producer at ABC News, will return to campus during Homecoming week for several class visits, lectures and meetings with Bellisario College students. His sessions during the week include a role as the featured guest in branding class for first-year students taught by Dean Marie Hardin of the Bellisario College.

Ballou, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, produces daily packages and live shots for ABC News. He was previously a news editor for the Americas at Al Jazeera, a planning editor at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., and an assignment editor at C-SPAN.

Ballou, an active and longtime supporter of Penn State who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1990, served as president of the National Press Club in 2017. He has established several awards to support students at the University.

Other guest speakers include:

• Alumna Joanie Vasiliadis, who will present a free public session at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 titled “How Digital Media is Changing Local News.” Vasiliadis is the vice president of digital content for TEGNA, a media company that serves network TV affiliates across the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013.
• Alumnus Ryan Hockensmith of ESPN, who will participate in a public session at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 in Kern Auditorium (112 Kern Building). An EPSN employee since 2001, one of Hockensmith’s pieces from the past year was selected for inclusion in “The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2023.” Hockensmith earned his bachelor’s degree in 2001.

In addition to those individual visitors, the Curley Center has planned a celebratory reception recognizing 20 years of student opportunity and success from 2-4 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Bellisario Media Center. The center was established in 2003 as a first-of-its-kind center in higher education and is open to students from all majors at Penn State.

The free public event will include refreshments, brief remarks, samples of student work and Curley Center giveaways. Penn State students who complete the Curley Center’s academic requirements — a combination of classes and an internship — earn a certificate. More than 1,090 certificates have been awarded in the past 20 years.

Activity for the week extends far beyond classroom and lecture hall. Additional events include livestreamed coverage of the Penn State Homecoming Parade, produced by students. The livestream may be found on the Homecoming website beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 13. Bellisario College students have gained hands-on experience and served University alumni and friends all over the world by producing the livestream for more than a decade and a half.