Dear Friends,
On Nov. 4, 2013, a labor of love was unveiled and dedicated at Missouri Western: The Walter Cronkite Memorial.
Walter Cronkite, the legendary news anchor who was born in St. Joseph, Mo., was known as the most trusted man in America. He certainly filled that role in my life. I remember watching Walter Cronkite deliver the evening news, and recall being glued to my television as Cronkite reported the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. This icon of American history is certainly one of St. Joseph’s greatest native sons, and now, there is finally a memorial fitting of his legacy in his hometown, on Missouri Western’s campus.
To say this has been a fulfilling project would be an understatement. My heartfelt thanks goes to the Walter Cronkite Memorial Committee members, who spent countless hours, evenings and weekends bringing this vision to life and creating not only a deserving homage to Walter Cronkite but also a new must-see tourist destination in our region. The creation of this memorial was a group effort, brought to life by our talented faculty, staff, students, administration and community volunteers.
My sincere gratitude goes to the David and Shirley Bradley Endowment, which helped make this memorial possible. Much like Walter Cronkite, the Bradley family is leaving a journalistic legacy by bringing the important new of the day to the general public. We are thankful to the Bradleys’ many contributions to the St. Joseph community and to Missouri Western.
It is appropriate that this tribute to Walter is on Missouri Western’s campus. The Memorial serves to educate our students on a key figure in much of our nation’s history, a man who exemplified journalistic integrity and represented the ideals of research, knowledge, free speech and public access to information that higher education institutions hold so dear. In fact, it was before St. Joseph’s own Chamber of Commerce that Walter appeared and responded to what he perceived as an attack on freedom of speech by then Vice President Spiro Agnew in 1969.
Cronkite himself was a great supporter of higher education. As we were researching and gathering materials for this undertaking, Missouri Western President Emeritus Marvin Looney helped us locate a recording that Walter Cronkite did extolling the virtues of public higher education in Missouri. That recording, as well as a historic map of all of the public universities in Missouri, is on display in the Walter Cronkite Memorial.
I invite you to come to campus and view the Walter Cronkite Memorial, located in Spratt Hall Atrium. It makes me very proud to live in a community that was the birthplace of, in my opinion, the most influential journalist of the 20th century.
Robert A. Vartabedian
President, Missouri Western State University