On Monday, students were offered a personal glimpse into the world of social networking and digital media.
At the annual Harrelson Lecture this year, the speaker was Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and editor in chief of The New Republic magazine.
The Harrelson Lecture is the legacy of chancellor John Harrelson , who left a portion of his estate to the University.
“When [ Harrelson ] passed away, he left in his will that part of his estate be used at the University to do two things: improve the art collection around campus and to annually hold a distinguished lecture that is for students, faculty, staff, and the whole public,” Cathy Crossland , chairperson of the Harrelson Fund committee and director of the diagnostic teaching center, said.
It was the job of the committee to find a speaker who was distinguished in scholarship or in some achievement that altered society in some way. However, as funds from the estate dwindled over time, the lecture was put on hold for a few years.
“For the last 2 years, the committee collaborated with [the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences] to support a speaker as part of their SCOPE Academy which is held each year. For a few years before that, the Harrelson Fund helped support a speaker for the Millennium Seminar series,” Betsy Brown, vice provost for faculty affairs, said.
With the 125 th anniversary celebration, the committee decided it was time to bring the lecture back. They were able to gather enough support to accomplish this. Sponsors such as the Kenan Institute, the University Scholars Program, the College of Education, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the College of Engineering donated non-state appropriated money.
In an effort to make the return of the Harrelson Lecture something to remember, Crossland wanted a speaker who would resonate with the current generation of students.
“The thing that interests me about Chris Hughes is that he doesn’t speak on campuses usually, so this was a big thing for N.C . State,” Crossland said. “This man is not yet 30 years old, and what he has done is rather significant.”
The topic of the lecture was the future of news media and social media. Hughes focused particularly on the changes in how people discover and consume news.
“I see an important future in which narrative journalism flourishes, but in order to see that reality, it requires [people] to open their minds to new ideas around the world,” Hughes said.
He expressed that “old media is not going away. We are only finding new outlets for expressing this media.”
“The social networks are complementing their curiosity and desire for news from other outlets. The old methods of delivering the news are quickly fading, and unless we adapt to this new technology, these institutions could be at risk,” Hughes said. “In the next decade, there will only be a decreased appetite in printed product, and a desire for digital media is rising.”
As a co-creator of Facebook, he said that his intention was not to create a new source for media.
“We built a platform that had no particular voice outside of the content that users wanted to share. Facebook is not a company that funds the development of new ideas, or narratives, or any kind of particular information itself,” Hughes said. “[Facebook is] the paper the news is printed on, rather than the news itself.”
This year’s lecture has a large turnout; the event was even streamed online so more students could watch it. Crossland stated that the continuation of the Lecture depends on the chairperson elected next year.
“It is an enormous amount of work to bring all those coalitions together and ask everyone to contribute money that doesn’t get taken out of any state budget line anywhere,” Crossland said. “But I hope that all students will remember that [Chris Hughes] came to our campus.”
