Honoring Kathi Goertzen’s Legacy
“Kathi had many passions, but when it came to Murrow, her priority was to help encourage and prepare the next generation of journalism leaders,” said Lawrence Pintak, founding dean of the college.
Kathi said, “WSU played a great role in who I became as a journalist and as a person.”
You can make a lasting tribute to honor Kathi through the WSU Murrow College by fueling overall excellence in journalism with a gift to the Kathi Goertzen Murrow Excellence Fund. Additionally, Kathi established the Kathi Goertzen Leadership Award, which provides student scholarship internship support.
Kathi Goertzen Murrow Excellence Fund – Fueling Overall Journalism Excellence
Honor Kathi now with a gift to this fund >>
The establishment of the Kathi Goertzen Murrow Excellence fund comes in response to queries from alumni who want to make a contribution to the college in the name of the 1980 Murrow graduate. It will perpetuate Kathi’s legacy by providing strategic support for journalism excellence within WSU’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. “In the coming months we will work with her husband and children to determine how these funds can best be used to foster her legacy,” said Lawrence Pintak, founding dean of the college. “Kathi touched many people and I am sure she will be honored in many wonderful ways, but from our standpoint, she epitomized the Murrow legacy and we want to do something to ensure she forever remains a part of Murrow College,” Pintak said.
Kathi Goertzen Leadership Award – Enabling Student Scholarship Excellence
Honor Kathi’s legacy with a gift to this fund >>
Kathi established this student scholarship internship endowment with the hopes that it would enable emerging leaders in the journalism industry who have a great passion for the ethics of Edward R. Murrow to gain market experience. The award will support a high achieving Edward R. Murrow College of Communication junior undergraduate majoring in journalism (this includes all forms of journalism, i.e. broadcast news, multiplatform news, journalism, etc.) who demonstrates leadership qualities through evidence of their hands-on work. The student will show a commitment to enter news and journalism as a vocation. As a junior at WSU, Kathi was selected as the top female student in the Murrow department with the Kay Wright Exemplary Award. This award enabled her to intern at KOMO News.
History:
Kathi Goertzen spent her entire career working for KOMO, covering the most important stories of our time, earning the industry’s top honors, including five Emmy awards, and the Edward R. Murrow award. In 1999, Kathi received the WSU Alumni Association’s highest honor, the WSUAA Alumni Achievement Award. In 2007 she was inducted into the Murrow Hall of Achievement, an honor bestowed on a select number of distinguished Murrow College graduates for their accomplishments and inspiration. Goertzen also served with distinction on the WSU Foundation Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2000, and on the Foundation’s Board of Governors since 2007. Goertzen was a long-time member of the Murrow Professional Advisory Board and was actively engaged in the college intellectually, emotionally and financially. She personally endowed a scholarship fund and helped lead an effort to raise funds for a faculty chair in the name of her broadcast journalism professor at Murrow, Glenn Johnson.
