Six months after the unexpected passing of a beloved journalism professor, the USF St. Petersburg Department of Journalism and Media Studies is announcing the Robert Dardenne Memorial Fund’s formation, along with an award and scholarship in the late educator and journalist’s name.
The announcement will be made during the department’s end of the semester reception at 3 p.m. on on April 18, 2014, at the Williams House on campus.
The fund exceeded the $5,000 requirement to become official, according to Deni Elliott, chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
“Right now we have about $11,000, and the goal is to get $25,000 by the end of 2014, because that special number means the fund is a sustaining endowment. That money will drive the scholarship, and Dardenne’s principles will continue,” Elliott said.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Dardenne was an informal, down to earth, blunt but enthralling professor, who was a driving force for USFSP’s journalism department for 22 years. Elliott said the Outstanding Journalism Award in Dardenne’s name will preserve his legacy.
“Dardenne’s principles were that a strong connection with the local community and journalism equals a better community, and in return, maybe better journalism,” Elliott said.
“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me,” Dardenne, who was 66, would say to lighten the mood in class.
He was a man who preferred comfort to style. He’d walk into class wearing a loose-fitting beige shirt, khaki pants with a small bleach stain and brown shoes. He would pick small jokes at society’s media consumption and ask provocative questions about the future, which would capture attention and demand seriousness from his students.
He was born Nov. 15, 1946, and died in his sleep on Oct. 17, 2013.
Dardenne was a beat reporter for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate in Louisiana and eventually became a reporter, news editor and feature writer in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Washington D.C. and New York.
“He co-authored a classic book in the field titled ‘The Conversation of Journalism,’ and was a visionary in the sense that he was able to predict most current trends 20 years ago,” said Tony Silvia, 61, a close friend and USFSP colleague of Dardenne’s.
Dardenne was easy to talk to, and loved to hear and report other people’s stories. But according to Silvia, he really enjoyed being alone. Dardenne was the kind of guy who could sit off in the distance and doodle when everyone thought he was deep into writing notes. Still, he was able to provide more information about the subject than anyone else in the room.
USFSP graduate Jamie Kennedy, 24, remembers the first time she turned in an assignment to Dardenne.
“He ripped apart my story in front of the entire class and berated me. He was mean about it, and I was so angry with him, until I looked back on what I had written and realized how terrible my story was. I deserved the criticism he threw at me, and it made me a much better writer,” Kennedy said. “I never told him how much respect I had for him and how much he affected my life and my experience at USFSP.”
Dardenne had high expectations of his students and knew how to draw the best out of them.
“His worst quality was that he never appreciated his own talent and ability as much as others did,” Silvia said.
At Dardenne’s memorial service in October, students shared stories about how he helped them graduate, get through rough times and improve their writing and people skills.
Dardenne’s friends and colleagues all had a great drinking story … or two, or three or four.
Whether it was wine, beer, whiskey, bourbon or a Manhattan, he would enjoy it while listening to music, like his favorite song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. He enjoyed discovering people’s stories and obsessing over great food, such as the grouper fillet sandwich that was later named after him at the Tavern on campus.
He was a man who loved a crowd, just as long as he wasn’t the one it was forming around.
Dardenne is survived by his wife Barbara and son Rob, as well as his students and colleagues from the journalism department.
Surviving a legend: If you’re interested in showing your appreciation for Dr. Robert Dardenne’s contributions to USFSP’s journalism department with a donation, please contact Jennifer Gonzalez-Bohnert at gonzalezbohn@usfsp.edu or 727-873-4808.
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