$250,000 bequest will establish journalism fellowship at KU to honor Kansas editor

LAWRENCE -- Kansas newspaperman Whitley Austin, who once suggested that the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas be abolished and its home be turned into a parking lot, will have a KU journalism fellowship established in his honor.

During his tenure as a member of the Kansas Board of Regents, Whitley argued that all academic specialties be concentrated at one college or university in the state in order to more efficiently use higher education funds. He abandoned his crusade to have journalism courses consolidated at Kansas State University soon after his son decided to major in journalism at KU.

Whitley's son, Danforth W. "Dan" Austin, journalism '68, said he wasn't sure why his father favored Kansas State as the site for the state's sole journalism school. "I suspect he viewed KU as more of a true university in a classic sense and less as a collection of professional schools," Dan said.

Whitley, who began his career as a cub reporter for William Allen White and ended it as the outspoken editor and publisher of the Salina Journal, was known throughout the state for his forceful, and sometimes controversial, opinions on key issues.

To honor Whitley's career in journalism, Dan, his mother, Mary Frances Austin, and his sister, Catherine "Cathy" Austin Roberts, have bequeathed $250,000 to the Kansas University Endowment Association to establish the Whitley and Mary Frances Austin Graduate Fellowship.

"The fellowship will help the school recruit a talented graduate student who can do important work, such as manage a computer lab, assist a faculty member in research or teach a class," said James K. Gentry, dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at KU. "Whitley Austin had an incredibly successful and varied career. We're deeply honored to have a fellowship that bears his name."

Dan said he thought his dad would be pleased with the gift.

"We gave the gift to the KU journalism school as a way of honoring my dad's contributions to the profession and both of my parents' lifelong interest in Kansas educational institutions," Dan said. "I think Dad would have gotten a chuckle out of having a KU journalism fellowship named in his honor, but I also think that he would have felt honored."

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1931, Whitley returned to his hometown of Emporia to work as a reporter for William Allen White's Emporia Gazette. He later worked for the Hutchinson News. In 1949, he joined the Salina Journal as editor and publisher, a job he held until his retirement. In addition to overseeing the paper's news and business operations, he wrote memorable editorials.

"These editorials were frequently picked up by other Kansas newspapers and, through their force and clarity, made him known throughout the state -- not always favorably," Dan said. "For instance, he was one of the first Kansas editors to come out against the Vietnam War, arguing that it was 'the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

"Much of his personal and professional life was dedicated to the proposition that a newspaper editor had a special obligation to the community, both as an instrument of change as well as a reflective mirror and a provider of a forum for differing opinions and voices."

Whitley won the William Allen White Foundation Citation, was a chairman of the Board of Regents, served on a state commission on judicial reform and was a Pulitzer Prize juror. He died in 1995.

Now retired, Mary Frances grew up in Hutchinson. After graduating from Hutchinson Junior College, she worked as a bank teller. She married Whitley in 1941. When the family moved to Salina, she worked with a variety of civic and church organizations, serving as a director of the St. Francis Boys Home (now St. Francis Academy) and the Salina Community Theater.

Dan is the vice chairman of Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co. Previously, he served as a vice president of the Wall Street Journal. He and his wife, Gail, zoology '68 and medical technology '69, have two children and live in Short Hills, N.J.

Cathy, a graduate of Kansas State, is a first-grade teacher. She and her husband, Craig, have two children and live in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Austin family's gift counts toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.