Ripon Communication Consortium
The Ripon Communication Consortium prepares students to be effective and ethical communicators in the 21st century. The Consortium is coordinated by Ripon’s Department of Communication, recipient of the 2014 Rex Mix Program of Excellence Award from the National Communication Association recognizing the best undergraduate communication program in America.
Students participating in the consortium will benefit from:
- Practical real world experience;
- Opportunities outside of the classroom and off-campus;
- Résumé-building programs; and
- Leadership and organizational skills.
Programs
The following co-curricular programs, activities and student organizations are coordinated by the Department of Communication in collaboration with the faculty and professional staff advisors of each program.
Ethics Bowl
A truly “Ripon” activity that challenges students to be eloquent public speakers capable of engaging in deliberation/debate while centering content on analysis of ethical issues. Ethics Bowl has a competitive format with regional, national and even international tournament opportunities. For four consecutive years, the Ripon College Ethics Bowl team has earned the title of Upper Midwest Regional Champions.
Ripon Speakers Bureau
Ripon Speakers Bureau is a co-curricular program within the Department of Communication. Students are trained to serve as advocates for non-profits and to speak about their own passions before actual community audiences. Speakers Bureau students regularly speak to audiences of middle and high school students, including at-risk students from the local community and North Chicago, IL; as well as inmate groups. Each student within Bureau develops their own speaking portfolio, addressing community audiences appropriate to their areas of expertise and passions for advocacy. Bureau is currently expanding to include “virtual” speaking engagements to community and high school audiences around the nation, and the globe. Speakers Bureau is credit-bearing as CMM315: Speech Practicum. Membership is restricted to students who successfully complete Catalyst 120 and CMM215: Public Speaking, and receive consent of instructor.
Instructor: Steve Martin, Associate Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department, and Pieper Family Chair of Servant Leadership
College Days newspaper
College Days, which launched on the Ripon College campus in 1868, is the longest continually published student newspaper in Wisconsin. This student organization, under the coordination of the Consortium, will provide participants new opportunities for mentoring in journalistic writing while transitioning the paper into a fully 21st century media source.
Advisers: Ian Stepleton, Adjunct Instructor of Journalism, and Editor of Ripon Commonwealth Press
WRPN Radio
During the 2015-2016 academic year, WRPN transitioned into a streaming radio station. AM carrier current campus-only transmissions began at Ripon College in 1956 and WRPN’s FM license was issued in 1961. Student organizers see this new flexible format as a boon for the station, and have already started to discuss opportunities for new synergies with other campus media organizations, College Days and Ripon Live!.
Adviser: LaPerish Barnes, Campus Editor
Crimson yearbook
The Crimson yearbook reflects the vibrant life on Ripon’s campus through photographs, articles and even snarky commentary. Under Consortium coordination, students involved with this student organization will benefit from additional mentoring and collaboration with new programs.
Adviser: Jaye Alderson, Campus Editor
Parallax
Parallax, the literary magazine of Ripon College, will join the Consortium in fall 2015. Participants in this annual student-run publication write long-form features and exposé, and can now look forward to collaborating with other Consortium organizations on public oral or video performance of pieces written for Parallax and on the development of graphics for publications.
Adviser: Megan Gannon, Assistant Professor of English