Villanova's COMfest brings ESPN cameras to campus Wednesday

Villanova University communication students will get hands-on time with professional ESPN broadcast cameras when the department's second annual COMfest opens in Garey Hall on Wednesday.

The event, first reported by The Villanovan, runs Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Room 10A. Lambda Pi Eta, the university's communication honors society, is organizing the fair, which will feature 14 tables, many of them run by students.

The headline addition this year is an ESPN table arranged through a partnership with Villanova athletics. Department chair Thomas Ksiazek brokered the collaboration, according to assistant professor Divine Aboagye.

"ESPN will show students the equipment. Students that are interested in broadcasting and working with athletics can apply to this program," Aboagye told The Villanovan.

Students interested in sports broadcasting can apply to the ESPN program, though the application timeline has not been announced.

Three student media outlets will table at the fair: The Villanovan, Villanova Television (VTV) and student radio station WXVU Villanova. Faculty will also staff tables for the Social Justice Documentary class, a two-semester filmmaking program funded by the Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society and the Nord Family Foundation. This year the class travels to Japan.

Study-abroad tables will promote the communication department's summer program in Greece and a separate program in Rome.

All Villanova students are welcome, not just communication majors.

More alumni are expected at this year's event than at the inaugural COMfest, giving students a chance to network and ask about career paths after graduation. Aboagye said alumni serve as "contacts for information for job opportunities, networking and all of that."

Villanova's Lambda Pi Eta chapter, known as Alpha Rho, was the 41st chapter of the national honors society when it was founded in 1993. The organization will table at the fair to recruit new members and explain the credential's value to employers.

Students looking to explore what the communication department offers beyond the classroom can walk into Garey Hall Room 10A on Wednesday starting at 11:30 a.m.