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Student Organization Spotlight:
The Dean's 6 O'clock Club

The Dean's 6 O'clock Club

The Dean's 6 O'clock Club (click to enlarge)

As a college freshman, it's hard to imagine a reason to wake prior to dawn each week. But, last semester 45 freshmen students in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications did precisely that through the non-credit, voluntary Dean's 6 O'clock Club.

In 2004, Tony Brown, dean of the Journalism School, saw a need to build a bridge between the high school experience of incoming journalism students and the new demands and stresses of adapting to a rigorous college program. Therefore, he launched the Dean's 6 O'clock Club meeting, held at 6 a.m. every Thursday for interested journalism freshmen.

The club works to develop new methods of improving student learning, offering advisement, grammatical tutorial support, parallel educational activities such as Final Cut Pro network editing, and a personal relationship between the dean and the new students.

Students are tested in grammar, punctuation and spelling prior to entering the club and again at the end of the semester. By 2006, the average "Sixer," as Brown prefers to call them, demonstrated a 31-point increase in these three skill areas within one semester.

"We don't make students smart, we help them realize how smart they can become," said Brown.

On Nov. 29, the Journalism School hosted its first graduation ceremony to recognize 45 freshmen club participants from the fall semester.

HU President Dr. Harvey addresses the audience at the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications

HU President Dr. Harvey addresses the audience at the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications

"We have some of the brightest minds in the country here in this School," stated HU President Dr. William R. Harvey at the presentation. "Thank you for taking scholarship so seriously."

Lauren Legette, a Sixer graduate recognized at the event, addressed the audience to share how she had already seen a vast improvement within her first semester at HU. She originally received a 63.7 percent on her entering skills test. Yet, after one semester's involvement in the Dean's 6 O'clock Club, she received a 100 percent.

"Being the best has become a great habit," shared Legette.

-Alison Phillips