Professor Randoms

By Teri Olsen
Collegian Reporter
September 13, 2006

Name and Title: Huntly Collins, Assistant Professor of Journalism. Collins, her name, is Scottish, and is actually the name of a town in Scotland. Collins said she was not fond of it growing up, but now, as a journalist, she counts her name as an asset because it stands out and is not an easily-forgotten name.

Birthday: March 8, 1946.

Hometown: Gresham, Ore. Gresham is a small-town farming community, heavily based around the berry crops.

What did you do before coming to La Salle? Before coming to teach at La Salle, Collins was a journalist. She worked at the Oregonian for nine years before coming east on a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard. After her fellowship, Collins joined the Philadelphia Inquirer staff in September of 1983. After 30 years as a journalist, Collins left the Inquirer to take her skills and begin passing them on to the next generation. Collins went to South Africa and ran workshops to aid the reporters in their coverage of the AIDS epidemic. She also worked as a Communications Director at the AIDS Vaccination Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) in New York.

What has been most challenging as you developed your career? Collins said that the move to Philadelphia from Oregon was challenging because she had to leave all her friends and family behind and start over in a new place.

Why did you choose to teach at La Salle? Collins said she was attracted to the spiritual grounding of La Salle and extremely impressed by the Affirmation and how integrated it is in La Salle’s community. Also, Collins was impressed with the faculty of the Communication Department. She found the staff to be very dedicated to the students, and she wanted to become a part of that community.

If you could teach students one thing, what would it be? “To use their education, their heads and hearts, to make a real difference in the world, she said. Collins would like people to be selfless, thinking in terms of “us” instead of “me,” much like The Affirmation. As a journalist, she would also like to encourage students to try to help people through their works and remember that their stories can make a difference.

What was the last book you read? Peter Hessler’s Oracle Bones. Hessler is the China correspondent for the New York Magazine and the book, Collins said, is a memoir about his experiences as a reporter in China.

What hobbies do you enjoy? Collins enjoys swimming, biking in Wissahickon and taking portrait-style photographs of people in natural settings.

What award are you the most proud of? Collins was awarded the Mass Media Award at the National Conference of Christians and Jews celebrating brotherhood for a series of articles she wrote on unfair treatment of African-American children in Portland’s public school system. She said she won the award for her contributions to better human relations and the cause of brotherhood because her articles brought about serious changes in the school system. She is most proud of this award because her articles made a difference and helped improve the lives of those involved.

olsent1@lasalle.edu