Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact
Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact
Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact
The Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact, founded by Dr. John Giannini, former men’s basketball coach of Rowan University’s 1997 national championship team and current athletic director at the University, examines the role that sports communication and media play in connecting the sports world to broader issues and promotes positive cultural change. It expands and enriches student experiences through internships, mentoring and guest speaker programs including “Pizza with the Pros,” a weekly meeting where local sports media professionals talk with students.
George Raveling
Legendary coach and activist George Raveling kicked off the Center's speaker series in October 2018. Raveling was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame for his groundbreaking career as the first African American coach at Washington State University, University of Iowa, University of Southern California and the 1984 Olympic team. He went on to become Nike’s director of international basketball. As a lifelong activist, Mr. Raveling provided security for Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech and still possesses the original copy.
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley, NBA Hall of Famer, 11-time All-Star, 1991 league MVP, Emmy Award-winning sports analyst, addressed the Rowan University community in October of 2019. Barkley, who held a capacity crowd of 800 rapt in Pfleeger Concert Hall, appeared on campus at the behest of his friend, Neil Hartman, a Philadelphia-area broadcasting legend who this year became director of the Center and who moderated the program.
Brian Dawkins
Hosted by NFL Reporter Derrick Gunn, Brian Dawkins visited Rowan to discuss his career as an athlete, author and motivational speaker. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 after 16 seasons in the NFL and 13 with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dawkins is one of the most accomplished safeties in the league. A nine-time Pro Bowler, he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s and is a member of the Eagles 75th Anniversary Team.
Welcome New Director
In August of 2019, Emmy award-winning sportscaster Neil Hartman was named Director of the Center for Sports Communication & Social Impact. His responsibilities include mentoring students, procuring internships, guiding careers and engaging students with sports industry professionals on campus. He works with students studying Sports Communication and Media (Sports CaM) to enhance their academic growth in the program.
Hartman spent nearly two decades as the main anchor for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. He also worked for Philadelphia television stations CBS3 and WPHL-TV as a sports anchor and earned four Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards and read more...
Partnerships
The Center introduced two unique partnerships offered to Sports CaM students hands-on experience in professional sports. The Delaware Blue Coats, NBA G affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, launched the Blue Coats Broadcast Academy powered by Rowan Radio WGLS-FM, a partnership that enables Rowan students to work in a variety of roles, including game operations, TV production and radio broadcasting on Rowan Radio. A similar arrangement has been coordinated with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the minor league baseball club for the Washington Nationals.
Wilmington Blue Rocks
An expanded partnership between Rowan University and the Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball franchise enables student broadcasters to call games live from WGLS-FM on Rowan’s main campus. As part of a collaborative educational effort between the team and the University, Rowan students will handle all aspects of the broadcast, including play-by-play, color commentary, production of the games and the game’s web story. Read more...
Selected student broadcasters were announced here.
Delaware Blue Coats
In the Spring of 2021, 29 students in Rowan’s Sports Communication and Media (Sports CAM) program made the roster as interns with the Blue Coats, the G League affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, and though they’re not on the court (most of the time) they’re as much a part of the game day experience as the players themselves.
Building experience and gaining college credits, the students, many of them aspiring sportscasters, run cameras, call games, offer analysis, keep stats, work promotions, take tickets and interact with the team on all levels, from the players to the team president. Some even cover the games as designated Blue Coats beat reporters for The Whit. Read more...
More from the Blue Coats in 2020 here.
