TV-10 is proud to announce that 12 Illinois State alumni have been inducted into the prestigious Illinois State University Broadcast Hall of Fame. These individuals were inducted for their exemplary work in the field of broadcasting.
Jerry Giesler ’76
A member of TV-10’s first class of students, Jerry Giesler has left a giant footprint in the broadcast industry. Giesler’s career spanned nearly 40 years both in the roles of news director and general manager supervising Emmy award-winning newsrooms. Jerry spent seven years as a senior consultant for Frank N. Magid Associates and was in high demand from client stations, station groups, and networks.
Alicia Bettes ’94
Alicia Antoinette Bettes is a Peabody award-winning journalist and mentor. Throughout her broadcasting journey, she has been a reporter, host, producer, executive producer, media relations manager, communications instructor, and assistant news director. In 2021, she was selected as an inaugural member of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Mentorship Program and is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the country’s first Black sorority for college-educated women.
Arles Hendershot Love ’79
Following a successful career as a reporter, producer, and assignment editor, Arles Hendershot Love was named news director in 1986, at a time when less than 5% of the news directors in the country were female. Always wanting to help others, she became the development director at Milestone, an agency serving the developmentally disabled, where she raised over $24,000,000.
Jeff Hawkinson
Jeff Hawkinson founded the nationally recognized TV-10 program while he was teaching broadcast news at Illinois State University. From 1975-1986, “Hawk” held positions at WEEK-TV as assignment editor, news director, and broadcast manager. He left WEEK to work for Caterpillar as a national spokesperson, annual report coordinator, and anchor/producer of Caterpillar’s Background News, an employee news program that aired worldwide.
John Cragan
During John Cragan’s 27 years at Illinois State as a professor of communication, he participated in the planning, development, and financial support of TV-10 and WZND. Cragan also developed a communication curriculum for the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and co-taught a course called Working With the Media.
Roy Santoro ’77
Roy Santoro is a six-time Emmy Award winner and the recipient of numerous other broadcast awards. He spent 40 years in local TV news in Chicago as a writer, news producer and investigative journalist. He’s the author of six books including Broken News: Journalism in Crisis, a look at his 40 years in the business, and Hurricane Ian: Stories from the Storm, a best-selling account of the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida.
Stephen Pusateri ’80
Stephen Pusateri’s career started in Champaign at WCIA as an intern in 1980 and ended as chief photographer at KFOR Oklahoma City on October 31, 2023. Over the course of his career, he’s covered a bombing, four life-altering tornadoes, and countless stories about people who overcame adversity.
Steve Berger ’76, M.S. ’77
Steve Berger is an accomplished advertising and marketing executive with over four decades of experience. Berger has worked with industry giants ABC Disney, NBC Universal, Time Warner Cable, The Fox Cable Networks, Sony Domestic Television, CBS/Paramount and MGM, among others. A philanthropic at heart, he donates time and resources to The American Heart Association, The City of Hope, AIDS Project LA, The Wounded Warriors Project, Public Broadcasting, The Palm Desert Sheriff’s Department, The Living Desert and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Wayne H. Weber
Wayne H. Weber was selected as a professor of journalism and the news director of TV-10 in 1975, a position he held until his death in 1984. Prior to his work at TV-10, Weber served as the acting news director of WILL in Urbana, sports director for WREX TV in Rockford, an announcer for WLS and ABC Radio in Chicago, and the news director of WICD TV in Champaign.
Rick Kempf
As TV-10’s second engineer, Rick Kempf was known for shouting out his slogan, “Half dos bubble,” many times in the newsroom. While on the production side of TV-10, he was able to help students in times of crisis. When asked what he’ll miss the most after leaving Illinois State, he said his interaction with students, which is reciprocated by most of his students who described him as comedic and good at easing tension under pressing deadlines.
Rick Whitlow ’78
A player on Illinois State’s basketball team from 1972-75, off the court Rick Whitlow worked in many different areas of TV-10 as an anchor, producer and reporter with a focus on sports. After graduating, Whitlow worked at several different stations, eventually becoming a sports director. In addition to the Broadcast Hall of Fame, he is a member of the Illinois State University Percy Hall of Fame.
Danny Sepesy
Danny Sepesy marked history as TV-10’s first engineer and would occasionally appear on-camera filling in as an anchor. He provided primary engineering support at TV-10. You could count on him to say, “That was not a technical difficulty!” when problems arose in the newsroom.
The Illinois State University Broadcast Hall of Fame began in April 2016. Alumni of the Illinois State University television and radio programs are chosen for extraordinary performance and leadership in their careers as well as service to their communities. Special consideration is also given to individuals with exemplary service to the Illinois State University radio and television programs and the School of Communication. With 12 new additions to the Hall of Fame this year, the Hall of Fame has grown to 44 individuals and is located on the lower level of Fell Hall.
