By Victor Fink, Staff Writer

Huntington University Digital Media Arts program has continued to prove to be a little giant among film programs this past year. Awards and nominations are not abnormal for students at Huntington.

The Digital Media Arts program is lead by Dr. Lance Clark, a Huntington graduate. He built the program from the ground up and has continued to branch out, originally starting in broadcasting, but then quickly moving to starting a film program, and animation quickly followed. While building a program from the ground up is surely impressive, the departments national recognition is the impressive feat for a school of Huntington’s size. 

“We are 2nd in the nation in terms of overall student awards at the national broadcasting educator’s association (BEA) right behind Arizona state. So a nearly 1400 student population competing with 66,000 student population isn’t too shabby,” said Clark.

A program such as this must be doing something right, but isolating what it is exactly can be fairly difficult. However, the students in the program definitely have some ideas. Many students come from around the United States to join HU’s DMA program because of three primary reasons: prestige, faculty, and equipment. 

While Huntington’s department may not have the newest and best equipment–though the selection is certainly not “shabby,” to use Dr. Clark’s words–freshmen have the ability to check out equipment and get hands-on experience. This is not a normal occurrence for colleges. Most colleges only allow you to touch equipment your junior and senior years. This quickly puts Huntington students ahead of the game. Senior Samantha Creager explained that “the mixture between liberal arts training and technical hands-on experience really makes our department stand out.”

Creager made it clear that this policy definitely aids to the program and helps set it apart. Another senior, Mary Devore, also pointed out some very important details that separate HU’s program from others.

“Student projects regularly win regional and national awards. We are set apart from other film school departments by our commitment to Kinema and professionalism,” quipped Devore.

Devore mentioned Kinema, which may be unfamiliar to some readers. Kinema is an idea and manifesto that Huntington University’s very own Professor Matt Webb came up with. It is a code to live by that Huntington University film students are taught through the faculty. It holds the highest standards of professionalism and humility, which prepares students to be the best they can be in their field and spread the name of Christ through work ethic and moral uprightness. 

All of these factors culminate to make Huntington University’s Digital Media Arts program one of the best in the nation. Not only are students allowed access to fantastic faculty, who have all worked in the film, broadcasting, or animation worlds professionally, but they also are given access to equipment early on in the program giving them experience. HU DMA continues to grow and will continue to blaze its path to the top.