By Taylor Popielarz

“Sports seems to be the glue that holds humanity together,” Professor Richard Hanley said.

And that is why he has announced, along with the School of Communications, that a new master of science in sports journalism program will be launched this coming fall.

“It’s an exciting field,” Hanley said. “It’s a field that’s growing significantly, and we really want to target this field on behalf of our students so when they graduate, they’ll get a gig.”

Hanley, who is an Associate Professor of journalism and head of the graduate program in journalism, created this new sports journalism masters program to do one thing: Train students to work as professional practitioners in sports media.

According to Professor Hanley, Quinnipiac’s School of Communications is in the perfect location, where sports journalism jobs are nearby, and are waiting to be taken.

“I knew from the lectures the professors were giving on the program that Quinnipiac would be the first university in the Northeast to offer this degree,” junior Tom Albanese said. “I figured I can maybe have something that not a lot of students say that they have.”

The program will not only be the first in the Northeast, but the second in the entire country, behind Indiana University.

Hanley said the program, which will begin in the fall with an inaugural class of 20, will give students a greater chance of getting a job in the I-95 corridor, where such media giants like ESPN, NESN and NBC Sports Network are located.

“Geography is destiny,” Hanley said, referring to Quinnipiac’s convenient location in the middle of New York City and Boston.

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