Season 3: Inside Witt: Our People, Our Stories
What makes Wittenberg unique? Is it the buildings on campus: Hollenbeck, Blair, Reci? The labs in Science, Chakeres Theatre, the HWA, Thomas Library, or the Steemer? What about the Post or the CDR? Or distinctive landmarks like the Hollow, the Kissing Bridge or the Seal?
Maybe it鈥檚 not the structures on campus that constitute Wittenberg, but the people who work and live at the university: the students who spend memorable years on campus, making their mark. Or the faculty and staff who remain long after most students are gone, providing continuity between one group of graduates and the next. Or, perhaps what makes a university is not tangible at all but is rather found in the conversations between people鈥攑rofessors and students, coaches and athletes, staff and student workers, roommates and RAs, teammates and captains鈥攖hat somehow magically create and sustain what we think of as Wittenberg.
These were the questions at the forefront of the minds of students in the Fall 2024 CMDM 220 Podcasting: Digital Storytelling class. As students set out to find such stories and bring them to life for listeners, they sought to do more than tell the stories that we already know. They wanted to turn Witt inside out to discover the underpinnings of the essence of Wittenberg.
The result is Inside Witt: Our People, Our Stories, a 7-part series that brings to life dimensions of Wittenberg that you may not have considered before. Have a listen and enjoy! We hope it will inspire you to capture your own stories of life at Wittenberg.
Podcasts
- Inside Witt: Our People, Our Stories Opening: Dr. Catherine Waggoner, Professor of Communication & Digital Media, introduces the series produced by Wittenberg students in CMDM 220 Podcasting: Digital Storytelling, Fall 2024. (2:34 min)
- Caught in the Spotlight: Wittenberg Makes National News and It鈥檚 Not Good: It was the U.S. Presidential Debate on September 10, 2024. Springfield is suddenly thrust into national headlines as President Trump erroneously claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are 鈥渆ating cats and dogs.鈥� This unleashes unwanted attention on Wittenberg, including bomb threats. Security cameras pop up, campus buildings are locked, and classes are moved online. Parker Salowich and Sophia Meek talk with Wittenberg President Mike Frandsen and campus Police Lt. Lee McCartney to hear firsthand how they grappled with this once-in-a-lifetime crisis. (8:15 min)
- Proud Childless Cat Lady: In July 2024, comments made by VP candidate J.D. Vance went viral about how the U.S. is being run by 鈥渁 bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too." Taking note of a Proud Childless Cat Lady sign posted on their professor鈥檚 door, McKenna Clark and Autumn Kriegbaum seek to understand the meaning behind that bold act by Professor Erin Hill. (6:10 min)
- Love 鈥榚m, Hate 鈥榚m: Inside the Life of a College Athletic Trainer: What鈥檚 the secret ingredient of a winning football team? Miles Amadi, Tole Tole, and Nathan Berger investigate the possibility that it鈥檚 not the coaches or the players, but someone who works in the cracks between those: the athletic trainer. Meet Ellen Crosbie, Wittenberg鈥檚 Head Athletic Trainer and Director of Sport Performance, and get a glimpse of the way she navigates the often-conflicting demands of coaches and students. (7:06 min)
- Why Wait til you Graduate? Becoming an 18-year-old Witt Entrepreneur: The life of a typical first year student at Witt: go to class, eat at the CDR, work out at the HWA, play on a team, join a club . . . start a business?! Why not? That鈥檚 what Melanie Barrett 鈥�20 thought. Daniel Gladden and Matthew Gerardi talk with Melanie and Entrepreneurship Professor Kevin Steidel to bring us the story of how a first-year Witt student launched a successful business, Bailey Bug LLC, to honor her sister鈥檚 life, thus giving credence to the belief that 鈥測ou鈥檙e never forgotten until the last time your name is spoken.鈥� (5:38 min)
- Roots of Change: A National Event Shapes Wittenberg: How did the 1968 assignation of 樱桃视频 Luther King, Jr. in Memphis affect students鈥� lives at Wittenberg? Timothy Smith and DuPree Phillips engage with Wittenberg alumnus, Ron Woods 鈥�69, about his reaction to hearing the breaking news on the radio in Myers Hall that day, and how it inspired the creation of the Concerned Black Students organization. What is King鈥檚 impact on campus now? Current CBS President Naevon Boykin shares his thoughts about the legacy of the annual CBS walkout. (7:44 min)
- From Hot Start to Dumpster Fire and Back Again: Reviving the Witt Men鈥檚 Volleyball Program: What does it take to save a self-proclaimed 鈥渄umpster fire鈥� team? Dominic Smith and Bailee Lyons talk with Wittenberg Men鈥檚 Volleyball coaches Nathan Matthews 鈥�19 and Ryan Roark 鈥�19 about navigating the challenges of a 鈥渉ot start gone bad鈥� and the lessons learned along the way. (7:02 min)
- Who Says You Can Never Go Home Again? Champions of the Past Building the Future: March Madness, Wittenberg style! Scott Dawson and Cameron Casto speak with Alan Watson and Brian Agler, members of Wittenberg鈥檚 1977 National Champion Men鈥檚 Basketball Team who went on to great success鈥擜gler as a two-time WBNA championship coach and Watson as a successful businessman. What compelled them to come home to coach at Witt? What does adversity have to do with it? (7:18 min)