When Joetta Di Bella Sautter \u201969 and her husband, Chris, returned to Montclair State for her 50th class reunion, they were in awe. \u201cWe were so impressed to see the amazing growth of the University, we couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The two grew up in Montclair and share fond memories of when the \u201cschool on the hill\u201d served as their playground. \u201cChris lived close enough to ride his bike to campus, and we would play in what was then a quarry to climb on the rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an English major, Joetta fell in love with the school. \u201cThe professors in the English department hooked me, especially Dr. Krauss and Mrs. Barrett. I had four happy years at Montclair State.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deviating from her initial plans to become an English teacher, Joetta instead launched a successful career in television and broadcast media production that took her from Manhattan to Hollywood. An Emmy Award-winning producer, she received a Los Angeles area Emmy for her work with KTLA Channel 5 and has served on the Television Academy\u2019s Diversity Committee and its Foundation\u2019s Education Committee. During her career, she also wrote and produced the station\u2019s Family Film Festival and a number of Hollywood Christmas and Rose parades. Before retiring, she put her love of history to use as an archivist for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I grew up in New Jersey, I didn\u2019t know I would get into TV and production,\u201d she says. \u201cMy parents valued education and gave us the opportunity to explore. \u2026 It helped me realize that there are many paths in life, and it\u2019s good to take chances and be adventurous.\u201d On her reunion visit to campus, Joetta was struck, in particular, by the direction of the School of Communication and Media and by its state-of-the-art building. \u201cI am astounded by the opportunities offered, the quality of the professors and the emphasis on developing skills,\u201d she says. \u201cStudents are working in the newsroom, shooting newscasts and calling the shots as directors, learning on the same equipment you would see in a professional TV studio.\u201d<\/p>\n
This \u201clearn by doing\u201d approach that enables students to \u201cget their fingernails dirty\u201d is why Joetta and Chris decided to invest in the School to create opportunities for students. Their generosity was recognized in the naming of the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication, a collaborative space where generations of students will gain competitive advantages as they train to become strategic communication practitioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am grateful to be in a position where we can give back to our roots in Montclair and give students opportunities to get hands-on experience to boost their careers,\u201d Joetta says.<\/p>\n
She encourages students to explore and take full advantage of everything available at the University. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what path life will take you on,\u201d she says. \u201cYou may think your goal is to become a newscaster, but then you get your hands on a camera and realize that your passion is behind the camera.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just sorry I wasn\u2019t able to go to school here now,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alumna pays it forward by encouraging students to explore opportunities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montclair-state-university-donors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1236,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions\/1236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}