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Dr. George L. Daniels has been named BEA’s inaugural Faculty Fellow of Diversity and Inclusion.

Dr. Daniels is a national leader and established scholar on issues related to race, gender, and diversity, across the professional fields of journalism and media and within the related disciplines of higher education. His research and peer-reviewed publications span more than twenty years and include a litany of competitive papers, journal articles, and book chapters.

From 2013-19, Dr. Daniels served as Assistant Dean for Administration and chief diversity officer for the University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences. In 2016, his college received the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Equity and Diversity Award. Reflecting on this recognition, Daniels published an article in BEA’s Journal of Media Education, titled “Closing the Assessment Loop on Programmatic Diversity Planning for Accreditation,” in which he outlined some of the initiatives and strategies employed by the College—and stressed “the importance of not only having diversity goals, but also gathering data to be used as a basis for improvement.”

An undergraduate of an HBCU (Howard University), Daniels has maintained a career-long interest in, and connection with, minority-serving institutions. Two decades ago, he conducted a study entitled “The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Journalism Education.” As a part of BEA’s 2020 commitment to racial justice, diversity, and inclusivity, we now provide free institutional memberships to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, paving the way for HBCU students to enter the Festival of Media Arts and apply for BEA student scholarships. We also made a commitment to build relationships with HBCUs and HSIs. Daniels is excited by these initiatives and says, “as a diversity leader for the association, I would organize campus visits to non-participating HBCUs and HSIs to help faculty and students learn about all that BEA has to offer and seek some commitments for these institutions to take advantage of their free institutional membership.”

Dr. Daniels served as Diversity Leadership Fellow for the Society of Professional Journalists in 2006 and as Chair of SPJ’s National Diversity Committee from 2010-2011. He recently completed three years of high impact leadership in AEJMC’s Minorities and Communications Division, which culminated in his appointment as Head of the division from 2019-2020. Daniels is proud of what he has achieved through this work—specifically in helping to increase membership and active participation of members from historically under-represented groups while also advocating for more diverse leadership within the organization. As he noted in his letter of application, “I want to take an active role in making sure others from historically under-represented racial groups can experience these same benefits of being a part of the Broadcast Education Association…. and look forward to working with the BEA Board of Directors and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as we get started on this effort.”

“George brings an extraordinary vision and ability to this important new role for BEA,” BEA President Tony DeMars, Texas A&M Commerce, states.  “I congratulate him on his selection as our first Faculty Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion. I look forward to seeing the initiatives that will come from his leadership.”

Dr. Daniels two year term as the BEA Faculty Fellow of Diversity and Inclusion begins immediately and is renewable for a third year.  On Saturday, October 24th Dr. Daniels will participate in a session at On-Location, BEA’s fall conference, for an open discussion regarding issues and ideas.

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