By: Hannah Wiley, Assistant Features Editor
Every club (or newspaper) needs a great advisor, and The Griffin is lucky enough to have Dan Higgins, the person who teaches us journalism majors all that we know.
When asked what his favorite part of being The Griffin's advisor was, he talked about the rapport he has with the students every year and how impressed he is at the ability to get the paper out each week, “which is incredibly difficult,” Higgins said. “I’m always so impressed by it.”
Dan is also an assistant professor of journalism and the director of the journalism program. “I’m really lucky to be in a spot where I can have some influence on how we teach journalism to people,” he said. Being the director of the journalism program, he oversees the curriculum and classes being offered. As someone who has had Dan as a professor since my very first day of classes at Canisius, everything I know about journalism, like how to write an article that is not only well organized but also meaningful, I’ve learned through his classes.
Journalism 100 is the first class I ever attended at Canisius, and it just so happens to be Dan’s favorite class to teach! Through JRN 100, students learn the history of journalism, current events happening in the field and how to use journalism to explore them. “For many people, it's the first time in their lives that they’ve sat down and thought about what journalism is, what news is and how they can separate good information from bad information,” Dan said. JRN 100 is not only the basis of what journalism majors do, but also an introduction to the journalism field for students who take it as a justice credit.
His favorite part of being a journalism professor? Well, it's the students of course! “I love teaching my students and getting to know them and talking to them,” Dan said. When asked if he had any advice for journalism students, he said to “be relentlessly curious.”
Outside of school, Dan can be found on his boat zipping around the Niagara River, or as he’d say, “squatting down near the engine department with tools and swearing at it.” So the next time you see a boat going way too fast down the river and then suddenly stopping, your best bet is that it was the one and only Dan Higgins.
A fun fact about everyone's favorite journalism professor is that he once got a standing ovation at karaoke. When asked about the song he declined to comment, but we can only assume it was a powerful performance. So, the next time you see Dan on campus or in classes, ask him what song earned him a standing ovation at karaoke, or thank him for all he does for his students.