The 27th Annual New Jersey Communication Association Conference brought together more than 85 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty scholars, and practitioners, representing 11 institutions of higher education from across the state, to explore the theme of connecting in all communication forms.
Held at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on March 15, 2025, the aim of the conference, the organizers, wrote, was to “drive more attunement as a means to return to an environment of civil, respectful, and dignified discourse to create much more productive connections” during the present time when “we are experiencing a world of division, extremism, acrimony, and an overall lack of civility and respect.”
Richard Dool, Teaching Professor and the Master of Communication and Media (MCM) Director is the President of NJCA and hosted the Conference.
“This was our second time this decade hosting the annual NJCA Conference. The last time was during the pandemic, and we hosted the conference virtually. It was gratifying to be back on campus and see the collaboration, positive spirit, and engaging discourse,” said Dool.
“The day was an excellent reminder of the central role that SC&I serves in the state of New Jersey in general and in the community of scholars and educators in our various fields more specifically,” said SC&I Interim Dean Dafna Lemish.
During the event, participants shared academic papers, posters, thematic presentation panels, conversation circles, hands-on workshops and demonstrations, and creative fun and games.
“The day was an excellent reminder of the central role that SC&I serves in the state of New Jersey in general and in the community of scholars and educators in our various fields more specifically,” said SC&I Interim Dean Dafna Lemish.
Additional participants from SC&I included Distinguished Teaching Professor of Communication and Information Mary Chayko, Associate Teaching Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Gina Marcello, Professor of Library and Information Science Marie Radford, Professor of Communication Lea Stewart, and 16 Rutgers graduate students.
The featured guest speaker was Javid Louis, Director of Social & Digital Properties at Mars Wrigley. During his career, Louis has held a number of roles in brand and community building, which include working on Twitter’s Brand Strategy team, Twitter Next, where he guided top advertisers in maximizing platform potential. As Ticketmaster’s first head of social media, Louis focused on scaling community engagement and crisis management frameworks. He has also worked on campaigns for Jordan and Smirnoff and Deloitte and Moet.
Another highlight of the event was a surprise tribute to Professor Marie Radford and her husband SC&I alumnus Gary Radford Ph.D.’91, Chair of the Communication Department at Fairleigh Dickinson University. They have been instrumental in establishing and maintaining NJCA over many years and are retiring July 1, 2025. The tribute was initiated and orchestrated by SC&I faculty member Gina Marcello.
“This was our second time this decade hosting the annual NJCA Conference. The last time was during the pandemic, and we hosted the conference virtually. It was gratifying to be back on campus and see the collaboration, positive spirit, and engaging discourse,” said Dool.
The New Jersey Communication Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the open exchange of ideas, information and research about communication. Our goals are:
Learn more about the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.
