The Marriott family has donated $1 million to Meadows. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)
The Meadows School of the Arts created the Marriott Family Endowed Professor Fund after a gift from John W. Marriott III and his wife Angela C. Marriott in August.
Instead of personally specifying which of the 10 academic divisions to donate the money to, the family decided to give the school that freedom. This way, the money can be directed wherever it seems most fit. John Willard Marriott Jr. and his wife Donna Garff Marriott were also a part of the donation.
It has not yet been determined what the money will be used for, but some Meadows students from different majors have given their opinions on where they think it could best be utilized.
The Meadows School of the Arts as a whole requires a lot of technical skills and equipment, especially in the journalism and film departments. The journalism school received new video cameras this past summer. In contrast, according to film major Amanda Presmyk, the film department’s equipment is extremely outdated and it hasn’t been replaced in years.
“We have an equipment cage like journalism, but the resources in it are very old. We are seriously lacking the equipment that we need, which causes us to miss out on a lot of projects. We as students can’t afford to go out to rental companies and rent the equipment we need because it’s so expensive. There is a lot of new affordable equipment out there, but we don’t have it,” Presmyk said.
Separate from physical technical equipment needs, SMU Meadows senior and creative advertising major Jordan Swensson thinks the money should contribute to networking, especially in today’s job market.
“The advertising department could really benefit from bringing in some Dallas area professionals. It has become such a competitive field that the more people you know, the better. The students in this major have some really great work to show, so I think trying to convey that in every way possible would really be of benefit to Temerlin students,” Swensson said.
“SMU is in the heart of Dallas with access to so many professionals in the field, it’s just about getting them here and showing them what we can do. That’s the problem.”
The Marriott family actually has a daughter currently majoring in advertising, and another daughter who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2010. It was their positive experience with the school that encouraged the family to make the donation.
The president of SMU Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA) Caroline Boothe also believes the communication studies program could see some improvement with networking tools. The organization has several speakers come in throughout the semester, but Boothe claims there is always room for improvement.
“I think that PRSSA could benefit from the donation because we could bring in more high profile speakers, which would in turn increase our membership. Our members would truly be able to expand their networks as a result and really get the full benefits of PRSSA, ” Boothe said.
According to the Office of Undergraduate Admission the student to professor ratio is 12:1, Lauren Proctor believes the department could improve exponentially from hiring more professors.
“Advertising is a very hands-on major, and requires lots of technical skills that are not easy to learn. I think if this were to happen, the courses could be more in depth and focused on one particular skill rather than multiple crammed into one class,” senior creative advertising major Proctor said.
According to President R. Gerald Turner, the gift will help contribute to SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 100 faculty positions and brings the current total to 85.
The donation is a part of SMU’s $750 million Unbridled fundraising, The Second Century Campaign. Thus far the university has raised more than $631 million.
The purpose of the campaign is to improve student quality, faculty and academic excellence at SMU, as well as the overall campus experience.
