LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Texas Tech College of Media & Communication is celebrating 100 years of student journalism, including the newspaper The Daily Toreador and yearbook La Ventana.
University Daily capturing the Lady Raiders 1993 championship team.
Various editions of The Daily Toreador and The University Daily.(KCBD / Matt Ernst)
Alumni and students gathered Friday evening for a dinner and gala at the McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center, one of several events held this month marking the milestone. Tech alumnus and former Daily Toreador editor Michael A. Cantu served as emcee.
Centennial Celebration Dinner was held at the McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center Oct. 24, 2025.(KCBD / Matt Ernst)
Linda Rutherford, a member of the College of Media & Communication national advisory board, visited with students in class Friday before attending the dinner.
“It’s a great milestone, when you think back…100 years of student journalism,” Rutherford said. “And all the things that have happened that student media has able to be a part of.”
While pursuing a journalism degree, Rutherford worked for the newspaper, then known as The University Daily. She served as editor in 1987-88.
“The practical experience I got, alongside the classes that I took in my journalism major, really got me ready for going out and finding a job,” Rutherford said. She wrote for several newspapers, including The Dallas Times-Herald, as well as for Newsweek Magazine.
“It was because of the experience I got, working four years for Toreador Media.”
Rutherford then transitioned to public relations at Southwest Airlines, beginning in 1992. Over her more than three decades at Southwest, she rose the ranks to eventually become chief communications officer. Rutherford now serves as an executive advisor to Southwest.
On display at the McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center were some items kept in a time capsule for 50 years. It was buried in September 1975, then opened in February 2025.
Letter dated Sept. 9, 1975 detailing the contents of a time capsule at Texas Tech. The capsule was opened in February 2025.(KCBD)
A copy of The University Daily from Sept. 2, 1975, preserved in a time capsule opened in 2025.
This includes a KCBD newscast script from February 10, 1975.
A KCBD 6 p.m. newscast script from Feb. 10, 1975, preserved in a Texas Tech time capsule.(KCBD)
Attendees to Friday’s dinner were given a sneak peek of A Century of Storytelling, a coffee table book now in production that documents student journalists’ work. It is a partnership between Toreador Media and the Texas Tech Alumni Association.
There will be an on-field recognition of Toreador Media’s centennial during the Oklahoma State-Texas Tech game Saturday.
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