Blast from the past! Buffalo State University held a tour of the Communication Department for alumni on Friday, Oct. 7. Graduates from 1970s classes walked through a field of memories from The Record in Buckham Hall, to WBNY in Campbell Student union, to the TV studio in Donald Savage.
Matt Gryta, former Editor in Chief of The Record, held a work study position at Buffalo State’s Public Information Office until he graduated in 1969. He went on to work at The Buffalo News until he was drafted into the US Army. He served as a war correspondent in Vietnam, where he was placed in charge of the writers and photographers in the Public Information Office of the Americal Division. He is also the author of several true crime books.
“I’m amazed at how [Buffalo State] has grown since I was here, just after the end of the last dinosaurs that used to roam Western New York,” joked Gryta. “I am thrilled at how the college, now a university, has improved technically, academically and socially as a force for Western New York and Buffalo.”
Following the tour, guests were invited to a happy hour at Campus House to socialize, reminisce about their college days, and fill each other in about what they’ve been up to in the past half-century. It was also an opportunity for present-day students involved in campus media to talk about how their organizations function today, and for both generations to appreciate the vast differences between then and now.
The reunion weekend ended on Saturday evening with a dinner reception at the JVL Alumni & Visitor Center. Although certain aspects of campus news, entertainment, and communication have dissolved – and evolved – it’s obvious that the passion for the work has remained the same.
