New opportunities are on the horizon for sports communication students, as Bradley announced the naming of the Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication after the Bradley alumnus.
Steiner, a four-time Emmy Award winner, National Radio Hall of Fame inductee and Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play announcer, said he hopes to aid in Bradley students’ education.
“I would like to come out there for a week and spend time with the majors, with an eye toward having symposiums where friends of mine, who have done reasonably well in our business, will come out and share their experience,” Steiner said.
According to junior sports communication major Josh McGehee, students are unsure about the scope of the new program. However, McGehee said there is a lot of excitement about the potential opportunities the school could provide.
“No one has talked about the details of the school, but we are excited to work with Charley Steiner who is so famous in our field and is an idol of ours,” McGehee said.
Sports communication major Sam Viebrock said he hopes the new school will bring more opportunity to the Los Angeles area since Steiner is the play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers.
“As the Hollywood semester is going on, maybe he can work with the sports communication students one-on-one,” Viebrock said.
Some students also said they believe the new school will attract future scholars to the Hilltop.
“We started out as one of the only schools to have this major, so that is a selling point, and now we have Charley Steiner [representing the program] who is a very esteemed alum,” McGehee said. “I really do think it’ll do a good job of bringing in more people to Bradley’s sports communication program.”
According to Steiner, there is an impressive history of broadcasters that come from Bradley.
“What’s so unique, and I think everybody at Bradley, Peoria and Central Illinois know and that people nationally are starting to find out, is that, for whatever reason, an inordinate number of terrific broadcasters have come from Bradley, from Peoria or from Central Illinois: Jack Brickhouse, Chick Hearn, Ralph Lawler, Bill King, Mark Holtz, Bob Starr and many, many others,” Steiner said.
Steiner said the school is an opportunity for him to give back to the University.
“Bradley was always good to me,” Steiner said. “I grew up in New York, lived in Los Angeles, but some of the most important days in my life have taken place in Peoria.”
The formal dedication for the school will take place March 31.
