Kenneth W. Lowe, president and CEO of the E.W. Scripps Co., and Judith G. Clabes, president of the Scripps Howard Foundation, expressed pride in the partnership with Hampton University. The Scripps Co. is one of the nation's largest media organizations and the Foundation is its philanthropic arm.

The partnership, Clabes said, was the end of a long search among the Historically Black Universities and Colleges. "Scripps Howard Foundation has been determined to find a new and effective approach to improving workplace diversity in our industry," said Clabes. "We set out to find a partner among the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities because of the important role they play in educating more than a third of this nation's African-American college graduates. Our search led us to Hampton."

Citing the company's motto, Lowe said, "The E. W. Scripps Company believes that if you give people a light, they will find their way. There is no greater beacon of light than the one here at Hampton University." The Scripps Howard Foundation has also recently funded a partnership between the Department of Mass Media Arts and the National Association of Black Journalists, or NABJ.

"This will truly make a huge difference for journalism, "said Will Sutton, 2000-01 NABJ president and an alumnus of our department.

For students and faculty, the ceremony was also a party with balloons, bright blue T-shirts emblazoned with "Scripps Howard Center Groundbreaking," and a buffet lunch. Sophomore Ashley Huggins expressed the excitement among many students when she told The Virginian-Pilot: "I think it will help tremendously, when I go out to get an internship or even a job, that I'm out of the Scripps Howard Center."