The dramatic change seen in the 1970s continued into the next decade. "Mecom Academic Center," The John J. Murphy Professional Building today, was dedicated on October 31st, 1981 and opened its doors the following January. It housed the Business and Mass Communication Departments, and the idea for the building grew out of Dr. Jandoli's 1976 survey of journalism schools. He was never entirely satisfied with the project however; he felt that he should have consulted with the architect, which never happened, and felt his opinion on the building layout should have been sought. His statement on the opening of the Mecom Center was rather lukewarm at best:
"We're generally satisfied. It's not our ideal, but we're grateful to those who brought the plan to completion."
Even without the enthusiastic endorsement of the respected Dr. Jandoli, the Mecom Center reflected the tremendous growth of the Department.
The 1980s brought a number of "firsts" in other significant ways as well. The Bona Venture was presented its first Pacemaker Award in December of 1981 while the Bonadieu won its first "Gold Crown" Award the following January. The Bona Venture had been selected from 41 other college publications that year, while the Bonadieu had ranked in the top 1% of student publications in the country and secured its first-place finish by scoring 969 out of a possible 1000 points; one judge called it "a near-perfect college yearbook, with professional touches that may go unnoticed."
Also occuring in the early 1980s was the winning of the Pulitzer Prize by Bonaventure Journalism alumni, the first time in histroy such an event had happened.
The decade saw a continuing of technoligical upgrades as "video display terminals" were purchased and "Computers for Journalists" became a required course, the upgrade occurring despite brutal campus-wide financial difficulties and budget cuts in the early '80s.
Perhaps most significantly, Dr. Jandoli resigned as Chair of the Department after the 1982-83 academic year after serving in the position for 34 years. Dr. George Evans took over a program that had grown tremendously since its birth from scratch in the late 1940s; by then there were 6 full-time faculty members and 6 adjuncts within the Department of Mass Communications.
However, Jandoli's work furthering the progress of the department he built was far from over. He continued to be an active faculty member and professor, and in the fall of 1984 made a sabbatical request that would prove vital in maintaining the history of the program. Intending to compile a record of the history of the deparment, Jandoli in the spring of 1986 collected all of the information that he could, from interviews, mail correspondence and personal recollection, to write a manuscript entitled "Journalism, Education and the Franciscan Way: A Quasi-Personal Account of the History of the Department of Mass Communications at St. Bonaventure University, 1947-1986." Even after his resignation as Chair, even after almost 40 years as a faculty member, even after his tireless efforts to build, establish and maintain the reputation of the Journalism Department at St. Bonaventure University as one of the best in the region and the country, he was still looking out for the best interests of the program.
The following is the report submitted by Dr. Jandoli explaining his departmental history narrative project: