50 Years of Electronic Media at Xavier

Mar 3, 2023

Victoria Page worked her way up to post-production director at Paramount Studios after graduating in 2010. She moved to Los Angeles to focus on video editing, and the jobs followed in close succession: assistant editor for reality TV shows such as “Top Chef,” editing scripted shows including “CBS:Cyber,” and in 2020 as editor of “Hightown” on Starz. She’s since shifted to the business side of post-production and now oversees a team editing dailies footage for Paramount Pictures. Her goal is to be a senior studio executive.

“Xavier’s program helped me gain more knowledge about what I can do in this industry,” Page said. “I discovered editing at Xavier which prepared me because of the structure of my major and my prerequisites. It allowed me to grow in an environment where help was available to me if needed to talk to someone in the program.”

'On the Brink' - 2019 College Movie Festival "Judge's Choice" Recipient / Xavier University's DIFT Program from DIFT on Vimeo.

For Cory Weeks, who graduated in 2013, the path from DIFT into the world of broadcast media led to Nielsen Media. He’s held positions in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco before moving to London where he worked in media analytics for major brands in Europe. Now he’s in Madrid working as Director of International Expansion for Nielsen.

The DIFT program, he said, prepared him well for both broadcast and the business side of digital media. The most impactful experience for him was a documentary film he created for his senior project about a Cincinnati area family adopting their 15th child who was special needs.

“The film focused on her adoption into a home with 14 kids. There were a number of challenges the family faced, but ultimately the way the community opened their homes and hearts in support was incredible, and I loved being able to share their story,” Weeks said.

“What I really think is unique about DIFT is the broader Xavier education and curriculum focused on social justice. It is really powerful to be able to bring this balanced curriculum and perspective into media and content creation roles to help advance society,” Weeks said. “I also really enjoyed being able to take my passion for media and translate that into a job where I can explore the world. Xavier gave me a great space to do that.”

'Got Nic?' - Documentary / Xavier University's DIFT Program / 2021 from DIFT on Vimeo.

Closer to home, Lily Walsh settled into her first job in October 2021 at NBC News Montana in Missoula, Montana. She didn’t know a soul when her dad dropped her off, so she got busy working as a digital content producer posting videos on social media and has since added the roles of multimedia journalist and anchor. She produces about two stories a week and fills in on the anchor desk as needed. And she’s made a lot of new friends.

One difference she noticed after she started working was how well-prepared she was for her assignments compared to other new hires. “A lot of them went to journalism school so their stories are great, but they don’t know how to shoot. I walked in knowing exactly how to edit, use a camera and microphone and lights, and it makes me more valuable in the end. And I still know how to tell a story.”

Walsh said she mastered those skills because of Xavier’s smaller, more intimate class sizes and personal attention from her professors. “Xavier offers a very one-on-one experience. It’s smaller which means you get more experience and more time in those classes, and you get to do so much more. It’s a tight-knit program, and everyone is there to help each other out. That’s the kind of camaraderie you get at Xavier.”

She said DeVault became like her “mom away from home.” In her senior year, DeVault allowed Walsh to film her dog having puppies, and her mom ended up adopting one of them.

To say DeVault cares about her students is an understatement. She oozes pride for their accomplishments and is quick to brag about how often they have won awards – which would be nearly every year since her arrival as director in the 2008-2009 academic year.

And just this past year, the program ranked 14th in scriptwriting and 69th overall nationally in the first annual Recognition of Institutional Excellence in Media awards by the Broadcast Education Association. The ranking is based on five years of student submissions to the BEA Festival of Media Arts from 300 national and international member institutions.

DeVault keeps up with her students after they leave Xavier, offering encouragement and advice as they move through their careers.

“Personally, I want to make sure all my students know their stuff so they can get on set and feel confident,” she said. “We make sure they are not just a pretty face. They have to be able to shoot and edit their own stories and be ready to go on air.”

Their successes, however, are challenged by the old TV studio. Fifty years of use and growth means systems are outdated, and there is not enough room for the work that takes place inside, especially since there is often a class underway in the studio when other students need to come into work on projects or gather equipment.

'My Hero Resolved' / Xavier University's DIFT Program / 2022 from DIFT on Vimeo.

DeVault was excited about a project to renovate the former McGrath Health and Counseling building on Cleneay Avenue into a new up-to-date television center to begin in 2020, but the arrival of the COVID pandemic canceled those plans. 

David Mengel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was disappointed that the pandemic forced the University to pause the plan for a new TV studio as well as several other projects. But work on a new campus master plan will begin this summer, and he expects a new studio will be among several projects to be considered.

“We expect to update the overall campus master plan to reflect the University’s new strategic plan, and I and others will make sure that the TV studio remains one of the priorities,” he said.

In the meantime, the University has approved upgrading some of the equipment in the studio, including a new lighting system. Mengel said he welcomes the financial assistance the TEDI endowment will provide.

“I have really great admiration for what Blis and the DIFT staff and faculty have made this program into and how it gives students the opportunity to get some of what Xavier does best in cohort-based experiential learning,” he said. “The DIFT students bring a wide range of skills together into creating impressive films that require a lot of art and technical skills plus great storytelling. I love this. It’s a really great thing that they do.”

Read more in part four of our series on the history of the DIFT program at Xavier.