Current journalism students, alumni or even students with undecided majors are welcome to join in the A.Q. Miller Journalism School's centennial celebration Sept. 2-4.

K-State's journalism school is one of the oldest aspects of the university. Print classes were some of the first classes established at K-State, said Gloria Freeland, celebration coordinator and director of the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media.

Angela Powers, director of the Miller School, said the Department of Industrial Journalism began in 1910 when Henry Waters, president of Kansas State Agricultural College, hired the first director of the journalism school, Charles J. Dillon.

In 1971, the school was renamed to the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, as classes other than traditional journalism were offered. In 1988, the department was dedicated in honor of A.Q. Miller, an active Kansas journalist known for his commitment to excellence and fairness.

The school has grown to accommodate the changing times and technological advances that have been made in the media world, and several different methods of media communication and resources will be highlighted throughout the celebration.

For students who are unsure what to expect in the journalism field, there will be several presentations on what the school offers and the different types of majors available to students. A free lecture in Forum Hall, in the K-State Student Union, and panels covering topics ranging from public relations and advertising to digital media are included in the celebration.

The theme of the celebration is "Preserving the past, preparing for the future," and many of the events are aimed at highlighting the history of the school and showing the modern advances and changes in the various departments.

For those interested in both journalism and Manhattan night life, a night out in Aggieville is scheduled for Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Kite's Legends Room at Kite's. There will also be a tailgate party in conjunction with the celebration beginning at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in front of the Brandeberry Indoor Complex, southwest of Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"Our hope is that a lot of students will attend a few of the scheduled events, and learn a little bit more about journalism," Freeland said. "We also want the students to be able to interact with the alumni and to learn from them. The alumni have a lot to offer because they've already been here and know how the school operates."

Another goal of the centennial celebration is to raise money for supplies and technology for the school. In honor of the 100-year landmark, the set fundraising goal is $100,000. A silent auction held during the celebration banquet on Sept. 3 is set to help reach the goal.

Powers said one of the reasons she is excited and optimistic about the celebration is because of the recent changes and developments made in the broadcasting department of the journalism school.

"We believe all students need to have experience in both print and electronic media, and Dole Hall is a very cool facility that has a lot to offer in the areas of electronic media and broadcast," she said.

The inspiration for several of the new changes in Dole Hall were made after a group from K-State visited Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School, where many renovations and new technology applications were made available to the students. Dole Hall is also known as the Media Convergence Center because of the wide variety of media resources and classes held there.

"The whole point of putting money and time into the media convergence center is so we can better teach students how to become great communicators across many media platforms," Powers said.

Some of the updates include more computer labs, a new multimedia room and specific areas and programs designed for the creation of podcasts and Internet photo galleries.

"It is a great, open learning and observation facility," Powers said. "The idea is to create a fully functioning news environment where students will actually cover real news during their classes."

The department encourages students and faculty alike to check out the changes made in Dole Hall during the centennial celebration as well as attend the other events.

"We are anticipating a good crowd at our events and are looking forward to seeing as many students as possible getting involved in K-State's journalism and mass communication program during the celebration," Powers said.