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Communications Journalism

A Story of Human Failings: How Reporter Emily Lawler Investigated the Larry Nassar Abuse Case

SMU hosts reporter emily lawlerBy Alix Sommers 
B.A. English, B.A. Fashion Media ’20

Emily Lawler, capital and business reporter with MLive Media Group, shared the experience of her year-long coverage of the Dr. Larry Nassar abuse case in a lecture at SMU March 1, sponsored by the Meadows Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs.

Nassar is the former Michigan State University (MSU) and USA Gymnastics (USAG) team doctor who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sex crimes.

Lawler spent more than a year reporting on the case. At the beginning, she said the public questioned the accuracy of the story.

“He had a lot of community support – there were a lot of people who frankly didn’t believe he had done anything wrong,” Lawler said. “But despite the initial reaction, we kept going.”

Categories
Theatre

10 Can’t Miss Photos from SMU Theatre’s Production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” by Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard’s internationally celebrated play won the Tony Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play. It focuses on Hamlet from the perspective of the two flummoxed courtiers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are bewildered by the action surrounding them. Part Shakespearean tragedy, part Laurel and Hardy comedy routine, and part Waiting for Godot absurdity, it leads its two honorable, adventurous and inept characters to their unfortunate, unavoidable fate.

SMU Theatre’s production, directed by Kara-Lynn Vaeni, runs through this first weekend in March of 2018 at SMU Meadows. Photographer Kim Leeson got a sneak peek of the production, and we’re here for these photos. 

Categories
Music

SMU Opera: Seven Epic Photos from the Production of Meadows Opera’s “Alcina”

meadows opera
The Meadows Opera Theatre production is directed by Directed by Hank Hammett
and conducted by Paul Phillips

No one can resist the spell of the glamorous, alluring enchantress Alcina.

She has conjured a magical island paradise where she lures unsuspecting, vulnerable men who are blinded by illusion, desire and pleasure. Amid a tangle of romantic conflicts, seductions and captivating deceptions, George Frederic Händel explores the fascinating and powerful complexities of how human beings suffer in love in this magnificent Baroque masterpiece. On February 8, SMU Meadows will sing it in Italian with English projected titles.

The opera runs through February 11 at the Bob Hope Theatre. Tickets and the program are available on our SMU Meadows events calendar. Photographer Kim Leeson attended the dress rehearsal and has returned with stunning photos in advance of the show.

Buy Tickets Now

Categories
Ignite Arts Dallas

The Year’s Most Anticipated Events for SMU’s Ignite/Arts Dallas

SMU Meadows ignite arts dallas
Rock and Tejano with a six-piece band: Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance includes one mezzo-soprano and one tenor and is fluidly bilingual. At the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff on May 4.

By Diamond Victoria

For the past two years, Ignite/Arts Dallas director Clyde Valentín has provided Meadows students of all disciplines with important experiences through collaborations with local and visiting artists and arts organizations in North Texas. His focus has been to serve the underrepresented and under-resourced and help students find full-time jobs after graduation. Now inching closer to its third anniversary, his initiative is slated to foster new relationships and build on existing ones, transition into year-round programs and host the bilingual rock and Tejano opera Pancho Villa from a Safe Distance at the Texas Theatre in Dallas in the spring. 

Categories
Communications

SMU CCPA’s Hilltop-on-the-Hill: Where Students Learn in the Heart of Government

SMU CCPA
SMU Corporate Communication and Public Affairs students leave Hilltop understanding the value of their SMU education.

Hilltop-on-the-Hill is a signature program

within the political communication track of SMU’s Corporate Communication and Public Affairs (CCPA) that annually takes students to Washington DC.

Lasting five days for one-hour course credit, Hilltop is a way to introduce students to career opportunities in Washington D.C. while highlighting the many ways communication plays a vital role in our nation’s capital.