Media Advisory A 2 p.m. dedication ceremony for the Bud and Barbara Weir Production Van will take place today in front of the KU School of Journalism. The Weirs, Dean James K. Gentry, and KUJH General Manager Gary Hawke will be present for the event and be available to answer questions. The new mobile media van will be available to photograph in front of the school. Subscribe now to receive KU News by email

Contact: John Scarffe, KU Endowment Association, (785) 832-7336.

KU acquires mobile media van with gift from alumni

LAWRENCE - A gift from two longtime supporters of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas will enable broadcasting students to cover events on location in a new mobile production van, Dean James K. Gentry announced today.

Ralph L. "Bud" Weir Jr., and his wife, Barbara Barber Weir, of Colorado Springs, Colo., provided financial support to the Kansas University Endowment Association for the Bud and Barbara Weir Production Van. Constructed from a 16-foot cargo van, the production center provides a climate-controlled environment in which broadcasting students will tape a variety of news and athletic events, lectures and interviews. The tapes will be re-broadcast or archived through several kinds of journalism school media, including the student radio station, KJHK, KUJH-TV and the Digital Jayhawk, a student Web site that provides news, features and video. Gentry thanked the Weirs for the gift, noting that the van will expand hands-on learning opportunities for broadcasting students.

"The Weir Production Van will give our students an opportunity to cover a wide range of events on-site, and will allow students to develop their reporting and organizational skills in real-world situations," Gentry said. "Very few journalism schools have a resource like the Weir van, and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have supporters like the Weirs."

Bud Weir said the new mobile control room was an exciting addition to the school's broadcasting program.

"As the van travels throughout the area for events, it will serve as a great way to promote the university," Bud Weir said. "It's just a wonderful opportunity for KU students."

The Weirs have long supported the School of Journalism. In 1980, the Weirs provided funds to establish the Weir Production Center, which includes the KUJH-TV production facility located in the Dole Human Development Center on KU's Lawrence campus.

A member of Phi Delta Theta, KU Band and Army ROTC while attending KU, Bud Weir graduated from KU with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1944. In 1949, he built a 1000-watt radio station in Junction City and went on to create the Junction City Cable Television company nearly 10 years later. The company eventually became Communication Services Inc., which grew to include 41 cable television companies in four states. He stepped down as president of the company when he sold it in 1979.

Bud Weir was active on the board of the National Cable Television Association and served as the vice chairman and secretary. In addition, he served in several capacities - including president - of the Mid-America Cable Television Association. He is a trustee emeritus of KU Endowment and has also served on the board of the William Allen White Foundation. Bud and Barbara Weir, who met at KU, have three children, Susan Weir Ancker, Daniel R. Weir, and Ralph "Ron" L. Weir III. Susan and Ron both attended KU, and Dan attended Kansas State University.

Barbara Weir graduated with a bachelor's degree from KU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1944. She has been involved in a variety of civic and social service organizations. A longtime patron of the arts, she matched funds with the William T. Kemper Foundation to help bring "The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" to KU's Spencer Museum of Art, where it is on display through Nov. 19. She is active in an alumni group of Kappa Alpha Theta, of which she was a member as a KU student.

The Weirs are lifetime members of the Chancellors Club, KU Endowment's major-donor organization, and of the Jayhawk Society of the KU Alumni Association.

KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the oldest foundation of its kind at a public university in the United States and one of the largest.