BGNAS HISTORY

The BG News Alumni Society

The BG News Alumni Society (BGNAS) was founded in 2002 to provide an alumni support network for current BG News staff at Bowling Green State University and create a reconnecting point for alumni who share the common experience of working at the campus newspaper. The co-founders were Bill Estep, Jim Tinker and Bob Bortel.

The alumni society is governed by a constitution and a 12-member board of directors whose members serve two-year terms and regularly meet on the Bowling Green campus. The group is considered an alumni affinity group affiliated with the university’s Alumni Association. 

Throughout the years, the activity level of the group has varied, but one constant has been the annual Homecoming Tent Party BGNAS has sponsored for the past 18 years. The brainchild of Bortel, recently retired BG News editorial adviser and business manager since 1981, the event has brought hundreds of BG News alumni back to campus to mingle with the current staff and tour campus. In recent years, the Tent Party has been co-sponsored by BG Falcon Media and the School of Media and Communication.

Major events in the early years of BGNAS included the kickoff celebration for BG News alumni in fall 2002 — a dinner and program, followed by the inaugural Tent Party. Tinker, the first alumni society president, emceed the dinner event.

An even larger recognition event was held in fall 2005 as the alumni society celebrated the 85th anniversary of The BG News, which included the publishing of an 85-year history booklet capturing the history of Bowling Green State University, as told through the reporting of The BG News. Honored at that event was the 1988-89 BG News staff, which was named the top college daily newspaper in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists.

In the early 2000s, the alumni society also founded the BG News Fund, a general use BGSU Foundation account to support the educational mission of The BG News, and the Terry Goodman Memorial Journalism Scholarships, created to support students working on The BG News staff. Goodman was a BG News sports editor in the late 1970s who enjoyed a distinguished newspaper career at The Lorain (Ohio) Journal before passing away from cancer in 1996. 

The BG News Alumni Society experienced a resurgence beginning in late 2016 under the leadership of Estep, its new board president. Within the next year, the alumni society accomplished the following:

• Finished endowing the Terry Goodman Memorial Journalism Scholarships, annual awards for two BG News staffers — one an incoming freshman and the other a current staff member. The first scholarships were awarded in 2017. For information on how to donate, see here.
• In spring semester 2017, BGNAS began sponsoring the “Alumni Conversations” program in BGSU’s introductory journalism class. During one semester for several years, the alumni society put together an impressive group of seven to 10 alumni who appeared in the class to discuss their career tracks and offer practical advice for students. Topics ranged from “Media Convergence” at daily newspapers to “Journalism in a Small Town” to “The Fundamentals of Good Journalism.“
• Also in 2017, the alumni society launched a mentoring program, matching alums with BG News staff in a 1-on-1 setting. The alumnus and staff member individually worked out the details of their mentoring arrangement.

The BG News Alumni Society board was also charged with planning activities surrounding The BG News’ 100th anniversary celebration, recognized virtually throughout during the 2020-21 academic year and culminating with events on Homecoming Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. For more information on ways to join or help BGNAS, contact its president, Tyler Buchanan, at tylerjoelb@gmail.com.

BGNAS board members