From typewriters to tablets, journalism senior lecturer Edward Walraven has been telling stories and teaching others how to write them for more than four decades and will retire at the end of the semester.
Walraven’s 43-year journey at A&M began in 1974 when he joined the staff as a public relations writer. In 1991, he joined the faculty and then went on to complete his Ph.D. in 1999. He’s taught a variety of courses in the Journalism Department.
“I’ve taught almost every course in journalism we have,” Walraven said. “Media law, public relations, pretty much everything.” “My favorite class to teach was one we don’t offer anymore, media writing. You got to know the students very well, and see their progress.”
Due to the small size of the Journalism Department, Walraven has gotten to know many of his students well.
“You get to see these students progress, which is always good,” Walraven said. “And getting admiration or recognition from them, even after graduation, is the most rewarding thing to me about this.”
The journalism degree was cut from A&M in 2004. Before that, Walraven would go to the commencement ceremonies and hand his former students their diplomas.
“Getting to do that was special,” Walraven said. “Shaking their hands, wishing them well. And as a part of this whole ceremony, I was able to deliver diplomas to my son, niece, and the last students to go through the major program.”
Before his career path took him to A&M, Walraven pursued journalism as a sophomore at Angelo State University. Once he declared his major as journalism, he never looked back.
“I was very good at English classes, and needed to declare a major,” Walraven said. “So I declared journalism thinking it would be similar, and just got bitten by the bug.”
After graduation, Walraven spent four years as a reporter in San Angelo for the San Angelo Standard Times, which only affirmed his passion for the field of journalism.
“Journalism is a work of trust, accuracy and integrity,” Walraven said. “That applies to everything.”
Walraven’s influence on his students has lasted beyond their time as undergraduates. Upon hearing about his retirement, several of his former students, like Andrew Hancock, Class of 2002 and Sports Illustrated photographer, reached out to the university to dole out his praises. Hancock said although he was “admittedly” a bad student, he was passionate about journalism early on and Walraven always had his door open to him.  
“As I grew as a professional, especially early on, I maintained occasional contact with Dr. Walraven,” Hancock said. “As I began to win awards and recognition for my work, I felt it necessary to thank him for the interest he had shown in me and for all the help he provided in making sure I stayed on path and graduated. Truth be told, I might not have ever graduated if it wasn’t for his guidance, patience and encouragement.”
Hancock returned to campus a few years after graduation to thank Walraven for helping him, and to apologize for his poor academic habits.
“A few years after I graduated, I was back on campus to do some work and I made it a point to stop by his office, say hello and thank him again for everything he had done for me during my time as a student,” Hancock said. “I also apologized to him for being such a bad student, at which point he very abruptly cut me off. At that point he told me every once in a while a student comes along that he can tell exactly what they are meant to do, and he knew that a career in journalism is exactly what I was meant to do and he was not going to let me be denied of doing just that.”
Walraven’s commitment to work with his students is one of his more noted qualities, said Margie Mohtasham, Class of 2000 and Highland Park High School journalism teacher. Mohtasham was one of Walraven’s students when she transferred to the university.
“Unfortunately being new to the journalism program, most of the classes I needed were already full,” Mohtasham said. “Dr. Walraven worked with my classes and helped to make sure I was still in some journalism courses my first semester and not lose momentum for my goal to graduate in under three years.”
Mohtasham said apart from the academic advice Walraven constantly gave, he helped her through two tragedies in 1999.
“The fall of 1999 two unthinkable events happened — my father passed away unexpectedly on September 25 and the Bonfire collapse on November 18,” Mohtasham said. “On September 26 I fired off a quick E-mail to Dr. Walraven explaining the situation with my father. The reply was a simple, ‘Don’t worry about school, be with your family’ … And that’s just who Dr. Walraven is. He is the perfect blend of educator, adviser, mentor, counselor. Now as an educator myself, I find myself wanting to follow in his example.”
Walraven came to expect greatness from his students, challenging those who showed interest and promise. Nicole Alvarado, Class of 2010 and web editor at The Virginian-Pilot, was one of the students Walraven challenged.
“I remember there was this time we got our assignments back in class and I couldn’t help noticing that the girl next to me did much better than me, when I knew for a fact that simply based on technical and grammatical errors, I performed better,” Alvarado said. “I confronted him about my grade after class and he was like, ‘Well, I expect more from you. I know you can do better than this, so I grade you on a higher scale.’ I got mad and was like, ‘That’s not fair,’ And he was like, ‘No. It’s not.’”
Alvarado said despite being frustrated with her grade, Walraven’s response to her frustration taught her a lesson she carries with her today.
“It was one of the most valuable lessons I learned in college,” Alvarado said. “It motivated me more than anything else ever has, knowing he expected more from me and just wanted me to live up to my full potential and keep developing from there.”
Even students who took Walraven for a single class left with a positive impression, like Alexandria Randolph, Class of 2012 and crime editor of the Kerrville Daily Times. Randolph took Journalism Research with Walraven in 2010.
“While Walraven had a number of students in over the years, and I don’t think he remembered me after the short time I spent in one semester of his class; the memory of his class helped to define my journalism education,” Randolph said. “I hope he knows just how many students he impassioned during his time at Texas A&M, and I thank him for his teaching.”
Walraven’s impact on journalism education at A&M extends beyond the students he taught. As one of the longest lasting professors at A&M, he’s helped multiple new professors adjust to the university over the years.
“When I first started teaching at Texas A&M two years ago, I went to Dr. Walraven to watch him teach his American Mass Media class,” said Hannele Rubin, instructional assistant professor. “He generously introduced me to the class and stayed afterwards to answer my many questions.”
Rubin quickly learned about Walraven’s sense of humor, and has since come to admire him.
“Since then, he’s been my self described mentor, helpfully sharing his materials, appreciation for history and media, and the many tips he’s acclimated about teaching,” Rubin said. “Dr. Walraven has a sense of humor all his own. His students and colleagues adore him. Speaking for myself, I will miss him terribly when he retires. He is the backbone of the Journalism Department.”
Walraven made the decision to retire after the spring of 2017. Angelique Gammon, assistant lecturer for the Department of Journalism and publisher of Insite Magazine, has worked with Walraven for several years, and said the university will miss him dearly.
“Dr. Walraven has always been the calm at the center of the academic storm, for students and colleagues,” Gammon said. “He is the voice of experience, reason and reassurance that you can learn, improve and succeed.”
Randolph said Walraven was the kind of professor anyone should hope to have in journalism.
“A reserved man, Walraven spoke only to impart wisdom, which he imparted much of during my time in his course,” Randolph said. “He was one of few professors I felt that was truly patient with his students, and could see what his students might become and where their paths might take them. If you took his class, you knew intrinsically that you were part of something greater, a history, a tradition of journalism.”