"Welcome home!" -  a meeting of alumni and friends of FJMK took place

On May 20, a meeting of alumni and friends of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication was held in the Magna Aula. The event is included in the Academic Calendar, tied to the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty.

Alumni, members of the alumni organization, and faculty who have been an integral part of its history came together to form the FWMC Alumni and Friends Club. They can all participate in joint initiatives in media, journalism, public relations and advertising, media management, and book publishing.

The event was opened by Dean Prof. "Dear colleagues and friends. This summary includes everyone and says a lot. First of all, it is a sign of the most sincere respect to such bright personalities - proven in various fields professionals, students, teachers, friends...
I am pleased and delighted to see an impressive number of authoritative colleagues and friends, including doyens in professional science and practice, some of the most respectable public voices, publicly recognizable and highly appreciated personalities. I am tempted to list names today, held back only by the gratifying fact that these names are remarkably numerous. Just as our worthy colleagues are numerous, whose bright mark and merits we remember with gratitude."
She summarized that what binds all who have come to Aula Magna is precisely the Faculty - the one that each carries with them as part of their personal biography. And one that inhabits one of the most beautiful historic buildings, but whose energy, heart and future are everywhere each of us is."
"I can safely greet you with a "Welcome Home!"
In the words of Prof. All members of this club will have a responsibility to the current graduates of the faculty who are the future journalists and communications professionals of Bulgaria. She urged the attendees, and the already registered members of the Club, to help the youth, not only to fit in the environment, but also to work towards changing it for the better. She added that the purpose of all alumni clubs anywhere in the world is to bring together and unite colleagues and friends; to support students and education; and to connect communities.
We look back with much respect and satisfaction, to the accomplishments of dozens of scholars and teachers, to the thousands of alumni of the Faculty who have contributed to the prestige of Bulgarian academic education and held high the professional standards of journalism and the media over the past more than seven decades.
Undeniably, journalism has established itself as a serious academic discipline, it has not remained just a postgraduate, practical, professional training. The reasons are clear - the responsibilities and challenges facing the profession are growing, and better education is required to practice it. People involved in the profession are burdened with responsibilities that seem to be greater than the responsibilities to other professions.
Prof. Valkanova thanked all the journalism professors who have given energy to the specialty during these 7 decades, have trained hundreds of students, PhD students, postdocs, graduate students and young scholars with their research, scholarly works, and monographs and have developed and continue to develop an important scientific field - communication science, media and public communication research. He also made sure to thank all the students for reaching out to the faculty and staff - from the first class of the academic year 1952/1953 to this year's class who received their degrees a few days ago!
The dean did not fail to emphasize, that the invaluable experience, knowledge, and accomplishments of individuals of academic theory and beloved by generations of students-faculty, as well as those proven in the practice of journalism, should not only be present in our and the national academic and media annals, in scholarly publications and textbooks, and in words of thanks during celebrations. He expressed the hope that the experience and knowledge of the attendees will be an active alloy for the community and energy on the path of the mission called "journalism".  
After the opening remarks, Prof. Valkanova gave the floor to the Vice Chancellor of SU Prof. Sonia Mileva, who in her turn expressed her joy to see the successful realization in the working environment of the former students who have proven themselves in the professional field of alumni. She added that there is no way for a modern university to function successfully without maintaining contacts with business and the alumni community. FJMC provides the foundation for quality journalism education. Prof. Mileva greeted the persons she has known only from the media and wished good luck to the Alumni and Friends Club of FJMC.
Danka Vassileva, Director of 24 Hours Online, also spoke as an alumnus of the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication. She proudly shared that currently only FJMC graduates work at the 24 Hours website. According to Ms. Vassileva, the most important thing in this profession is contacts - without them there is no way to get a good report. Even from this point of view, it is important to create such an alumni community where colleagues can communicate and exchange contacts.
One of the brightest faces of public television, Boyko Vassilev, who went all the way to a PhD, also greeted guests at the Magna Aula. Dr. Vassilev stressed that in his career he has never had to justify having graduated from FJMC; on the contrary, what he has learned here has enabled him to deal with crises in some of the world's "hot spots." Boyko Vassilev emphasized some of the biggest abuses in the profession, committed precisely by journalists -  writing publications for pay, expressing the journalist's personal opinion at the expense of objective reporting of the facts. It is in these moments that the great advantage of graduating from FJMC becomes apparent, he added.
Evgeniya Drumeva, deputy director of the cke_image_resizer.-Director General of BTA - attended the event in a dual capacity. On the one hand, she is an alumnus of the faculty, and on the other hand, she is a representative of the largest employers' organization maintaining close contacts with FJMC. Ms. Drumeva shared about the most valuable thing she gained from studying at the Faculty: the mutual passion for the profession that was ignited by the faculty and her colleagues. Here she has learned those standards in the profession that journalists cannot do without. Ms. Dumeva believes that artificial intelligence will not replace those working in the profession because it cannot replace the ethics that humans possess.
For the final prof. Vulkanova gave the floor to the younger generation, in the face of the third-year journalism student - Peter Zhelev. He congratulated the anniversary, noting that words are most important. It is important what to say, how to say it, and why to say it. The student expressed his conviction that it is the creation of the Club of Alumni and Friends of FJMC that will unite and strengthen the journalists' guild.
A formal part was followed by a cocktail party where informal, friendly, collegial meetings continued until dark.
As a sign of their connection to the community, all those who registered for the Club received FJMC pins.
If you haven't yet registered for the FJMC Alumni and Friends Club, you can do so here.  

Photos by Desislava Kulelieva, Antoan Bojinov, Vanya Stoyanova, Grisha Atanasov