Media School honors 5 alumni with Distinguished Alumni Awards
On Nov. 7, the IU Media School recognized five distinguished alumni at the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner. This year’s recipients are Lee Ann Daly, BA’85; Jerald B. Harkness, BA’91 (sociology), Cert’91; Mel Raines, BA’91; Catt Sadler, BAJ’97; and Lars Willnat, MA’97 and PhD’92.
Media School Dean David Tolchinsky welcomed attendees to the dinner with opening remarks. He said he continues to be impressed with the comprehensive nature of The Media School as well as the passion and dedication of students, faculty, and staff.
Tolchinsky also took a moment to recognize student media organizations and welcome Indiana Daily Student editors to stand for a round of applause. The dean said he is grateful to everyone who has contributed to the conversation in recent weeks in support of guaranteeing editorial independence while progressing towards a sustainable financial model.
“The message is clear,” he said. “Our community greatly values student media and wants to see it flourish, as do I.”
After dinner, the five distinguished alumni were awarded and brought to the podium to deliver a brief speech. Daly, an award-winning global brand strategist and Fortune 500 CMO, was the first to be recognized. Throughout her career, Daly green-lit iconic ad campaigns and led global brand and marketing during her nine-year tenure at ESPN.
Daly said that after the Oct. 16 IDS print edition was abruptly canceled, she thought the best form of protest was to not attend the ceremony.
However, she thanked IDS co-editors-in-chief, seniors Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller, for convincing her to accept the award.
She invited Hilkowitz, Miller, managing editors Jack Forrest and Alayna Wilkening, and arts editor Emerson Elledge to join her on the stage as she accepted the award.
“Tonight you remind us what courage looks like,” she said about the student journalists.
Daly received a sweeping standing ovation.
Harkness was recognized next. He is the president and CEO of Studio Auteur, a content creation company specializing in broadcast documentaries. He is also an Emmy-award winner who has produced and directed for Paramount TV, PBS, and more. In his speech, he thanked several professors, the dean, and everyone at The Media School and said he was eternally grateful for all of them.
“I can unequivocally say that I’m a filmmaker because of my IU experience and my IU family,” Harkness said.
Lastly, Harkness thanked his late wife, Barbara Rude-Harkness, who passed away in September.
“I would not be up here without her,” he said. “Twenty-nine years of love and support, and she was truly my muse. I miss her every day, and she was so excited about this award.”
After Harkness spoke, Raines was recognized. Raines is the president and CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, where she oversees business operations for the Indiana Pacers of the NBA, the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, the Noblesville Boom of the G League, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. In her speech, she credited IU for giving her the foundation to launch her career.
“I also learned the most important thing that got me where I am today: simple, hard work,” Raines said. “I knew early on that if I spent the time studying and going the extra mile, that I would be successful. And IU pushed me to do that.”
Sadler, Emmy-award winning journalist and television host, was awarded next. Sadler has nearly 30 years of on-air experience and is best known for her work on E! Entertainment. She has also interviewed Hollywood’s A-list celebrities and co-hosted the Vanity Fair Oscars Party. In her speech, she reminisced on her time at IU and her first internship with Fox 59.
“I remember just walking into that newsroom, and the hum of the newsroom, the deadlines, the chaos, the black coffee, I mean, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Sadler said. “I was like, ‘I am home, this is it. Let’s tell stories, let’s meet deadlines.’”
Willnat, a John Ben Snow Endowed research professor at Syracuse University, was the fifth distinguished alumni to be recognized. Willnat’s research focuses on global journalism studies, the effects of media on political attitudes and behaviors and the media in China. He is also the co-author and editor of seven books and is on the editorial boards of several academic journals.
“IU has become family to me,” Willnat said, and recognized the numerous mentors he has had over the years through IU. “Thank you for this honor. Thank you Dean Tolchinsky, thanks to The Media School, and thanks to the people, all of you who are here today, and especially the people I know so closely. Thank you.”