Communication Arts Spotlight | James C. Gruenfelder '25

I found Hood College through a friend of mine who committed here to play baseball. As someone who lost their scholarship to my first school to play baseball due to COVID, I found my way here on his recommendation. So, my original reason to be here was to play baseball. Although I am still playing, the English and communications department and the people I have met at Hood are big reasons why I stayed and grew to love Hood.

As a kid growing up, I enjoyed sports. I felt what really connected me to sports were the broadcasters. More specifically, the New York Mets broadcasting booth is what made me fall in love with not only baseball and the Mets, but also the idea of becoming a broadcaster.

I am the vice president of Blazer Radio. This was a title Professor Jacobsen gave to me last year. I formerly hosted a podcast called “Groony’s Take” and was the co-host of a podcast titled “To-Day’s Take”. After those shows ended, I did not host any shows, but I was a frequent special guest on many shows. Now, I host a show titled “Bullpen Banter,” where my co-host and I discuss Major League Baseball news, events and recaps, and we have predictions on what will happen next. I am a frequent guest of the “Charlie Talks Music” show as well.

I enjoy watching the creative process unfold. I also very much enjoy being a guest on students’ shows. It’s always a great, enjoyable experience. Some challenges includes getting guests on shows, maintaining a consistent schedule with classes and continuing to produce ideas for content.

My proudest achievement as a Hood student has definitely been my athletics internship. During the fall semester, I received compliments from my peers, so many people that I did not know and faculty here at Hood. I was referred to as the “Voice of the Blazers,” which was a very proud moment for me. To me, this means something that I take pride in is being recognized by a large audience. I never would have been able to get that recognition without the support of the sports information department and Matthew Gelhard. They gave me the opportunity to be a play-by-play announcer, which was my first true dream job as a child. I also have the pleasure of being the play-by-play announcer during Hood College women’s ice hockey team’s first game ever as a program.

My internship as the play-by-play announcer for all home sporting events entails researching Hood’s sports teams as well as every team that comes here to play Hood. I have to know the ins and outs of every team, including jersey numbers, names, pronunciations of names, rules of the sport, special slang within the sport, what the equipment is called, who is the statistical leader of each team, and what the team’s current record is. I reach out to coaches on campus for information, reach out to opposing schools for information and talk to the Hood athletics department staff for any other information I could use.

It is important for students to be well-versed in media literacy because that is what everything is. We have reached a point where it is not a stretch to say everyone uses social media, everyone uses the internet, and everybody has reached the point of media dependency. If you are able to navigate the internet and social media the way you want, while also understanding why you see the ads or pieces of information you do, you will be able to find useful information on the internet and social media. It also looks like our society will not go back to pre-social media, so we have to adapt to what comes. My diversity through media, including social media training, how to use the internet, radio experience, broadcasting experience and graphic design experience sets me up with a good foundation for succeeding in our society for the future. 

I want to be involved in the sports world in any capacity. I plan to continue my education after Hood and hope to be a graduate assistant at another school.

The best advice I could offer someone who is interested in studying communication arts is get your ideas and voice heard by someone who can guide you. I have been put in great positions to succeed in the CMA program because I was able to express what I wanted to do within the program, and I had help to get there. I have been able to be part of a lot of good projects, and I have also been offered positions on projects because of showing my interest in being a sports broadcaster. This opened doorways to classes I did not know existed as well as extracurricular opportunities, such as having a podcast, that I could do to get myself. So, if you are interested in studying communication arts, do not hesitate to get your voice and interests heard by somebody who can guide you. It will open a lot of doors that you did not know were there.

For people who do not have a specific passion within communications, I would recommend being a CMA major because of how diverse the curriculum is. I have learned about journalism, writing, public relations, graphic design, visual media production, broadcasting and media history, and I have been able to create a senior portfolio project with all my best work. As I mentioned earlier, today’s age is all about media, so even if you do not have a specific passion within the major, you will be well informed and knowledgeable about what goes on in media.

Learn more about the communication arts program here.