October 28 , 2004 Print this page

Built to Last! La Salle University’s Communication Department Celebrates 10th Anniversary of its ‘Com Center’

Festivities Include Honoring Renee Chenault-Fattah with Shining Star Award

1994 was a remarkable year in American media: O.J. Simpson’s Bronco ride was news; Quentin Tarantino dazzled with Pulp Fiction; a sitcom about six friends, called Friends, debuted. It was also when La Salle University opened its state-of-the-art Communication department building (‘Com Center’), and now it’s time to celebrate.

On Friday, October 29th, the Communication department will host a night of celebration, including the awarding of its Shining Star Award, given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of communication and a commitment to Lasallian values. This year’s recipient is NBC-10 anchor Renee Chenault-Fattah. The festivities start at 6:30 p.m.

Alums from around the country will celebrate what was the vision of Brother Gerry Molyneaux, who created the Communication Department. “Some people saw it as a passing fancy – it would be here a few years and then it would go,” he says. Communication is now the largest undergraduate major at La Salle.

Molyneaux oversaw construction of the com center, which includes a TV studio and modern digital editing equipment. The department’s curriculum features tracks in film, writing, public relations, mass communication and human communication.

Hundreds of La Salle graduates work in the film, television, electronic and print media and communications industries, including: actor Peter Boyle; Tom Curley, President of The Associated Press; Dr. Brian McDonough, health reporter at Channel 29 and KYW Newsradio; Pat McLoone, Sports Editor of The Philadelphia Daily News, Michele Klein Valkov, Producer, NFL Films and Judy Walsh Loughlin, Deputy Copy Chief at The Wall Street Journal.

Chenault-Fattah began co-anchoring the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts for Channel 10 in March, 1995. She has received many awards for her civic and professional contributions, and frequently speaks at schools, churches and civic organizations about journalism, law and ethics and the importance of education. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Congressman Chaka Fattah, and their daughters Cameron and Chandler. She earned a B.A. at Johns Hopkins University, a law degree at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Missouri.