Alumna Berkley Knas helped make Belo building a reality
It is hard to believe that we are approaching the six-month anniversary of the opening of the Belo Center for New Media.
Just seven years ago, Berkley Knas, a public relations major and alumna of the department, was the student government representative for the College of Communication, as well as the President of the Communication Council. At the time, the College of Communication had just named Roderick P. Hart as Dean.
Knas wasted no time in acting on behalf of her student constituents and immediately proposed to Dean Hart that the lobby of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center (better known to students of the College as the CMA building) be remodeled to better accommodate and serve the students.
“We really wanted a space for an open, free-moving flow of ideas to be exchanged,” Knas said. “Dean Hart was amazing. He truly listened and was genuine about the students concerns. He involved students in every step of the way.”
After working with Knas on the remodeling of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center lobby, Dean Hart approached her for student support on the proposal of a new building- the future Belo Center for New Media.
“I became a student ambassador for the new building campaign and really worked with the students in the College of Communication to rally behind Dean Hart’s plan,” Knas said.
The need for the new building stemmed from the fact that the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center was built in 1974 to accommodate 1,000 students. However, during Knas’s tenure, the College of Communication had grown to over four times that number.
“We were in such tight quarters in the Jesse H. Jones Communication Center,” Knas said. “So many of our classes, especially the first and second years, were held in Burdine and other buildings on campus. So not only were [students of the College of Communication] not housed in the building, but we also weren’t able to foster that sense of community and cultivate relationships because we were spread all over campus.”
Now, College of Communication students need not share the same worry. The Belo building boasts five stories with space for more than 4,600 students, expanded student advising and career services areas, agency-style classrooms, bright colored walls, a café, and plenty of power outlets.
“The 120,000 square feet of that building are designed and dedicated entirely to students and I think that’s what makes it so cool,” Knas said. “It truly is a building all about the students and that is exactly what Dean Hart’s vision was so I credit him for that.”
“There is no other communication program in the country like ours and we really needed a building to match that,” she said. “Now we definitely have one of the best buildings in the country!”