UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This month on "The People of Penn State" podcast, the Penn State Alumni Association chatted with 2024 Bellisario College of Communications alumnus Cade Miller, who is now associate director of admissions at Shepherd University.
Miller reflected on how his Penn State experience and involvement shaped his path, how those experiences led him to his current role in higher education, and how he brings storytelling and student engagement into his work. Here are a few highlights from the episode.
Q: Why did you choose Penn State?
Miller: To be honest, it changes all the time. But the story that I always go with is when I was in seventh grade, I went to the White Out game, and I was sitting in the letterman section with my dad, and we were right beside the student section. I remember just feeling the atmosphere that everyone feels at the White Out. And I turned to my dad, and I was like, “I’m going here.”
So, from seventh grade on, I was committed to Penn State. I’m from West Virginia, so nobody from my high school has ever been to Penn State. And I was dedicated to going.
I just worked super hard to apply. I only applied to three schools, and Penn State was one of them.
Q: Let’s talk a bit about your audio journalism, which has received some national and state recognition.
Miller: When I first started my freshman year, I was really interested in radio. And then the radio introduced me to podcasting. So, my first big assignment was through my podcasting class.
We did a podcast right after the passing of Franco Harris, and it was a multi-episode story about his friends and family. We got to dive deeper into his legacy.
It was about six episodes, and I did the final episode with my partner, Maddie. We got to interview this woman, Renee, who oversaw a Black-owned golf course that he played at a lot, and he donated a lot of money to.
We put the episodes together, and we submitted them to the Keystone Media Awards. That won first place, which was super cool because that was the biggest award that I’ve won so far, in anything journalism-related.
In my senior year, I had this idea of doing a multi-episode piece about farmers in agriculture in Pennsylvania. My grandfather was a dairy farmer, and I thought it was interesting to share the story, coming from a farmers college, Penn State, and then coming into the university and being able to share stories like that. Maggie Messitt [Norman Eberly Professor of Practice in Journalism] had the same idea about producing a podcast about agriculture in Pennsylvania, so I got two other people to work on the project with me. We went around Pennsylvania and interviewed small farmers, big farms and big organizations. We went to the Pennsylvania Farm Show and interviewed kids who were showing animals for days.
During my last semester, for spring break, I stayed with farmers for a week, and I followed them around their farm. That was sent for the Hearst Media Award and won ninth place.
The last one was a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Bellisario student journalists went to cover the story and interview people recovering from it. Later, they wanted to turn it into a multimedia piece. I got pulled in to create each story and turn them into smaller audio pieces, and it became a map where people could scroll around and click different areas of the town and hear an audio story about what was going on in the aftermath. That won first place for the Hearst Media Award.
Q: What parts of your time at Penn State can you apply to your job today?
Miller: Oh my gosh, a lot. I get to work closely with our communications team, focusing on how we share our story, what our brand looks like, how we reach prospective students and families, and what Shepard is supposed to feel and look like for incoming students.
With UPUA [University Park Undergraduate Association], I worked with the University administration, and I continue to do so now. I’m reviewing policies and exploring ways to improve the student experience.
And of course, Lion Ambassadors, leading tours all the time, which helps a lot, especially with recruitment. I occasionally give tours at Shepherd.
I’ve taken many lessons from my Penn State experience and apply them to my current work, especially from my internship in Undergraduate Admissions at Penn State, involving accepted students’ days and open houses. When we bring students to campus, we want them to feel like it’s a place they could stay for the next four years—where they’ll feel invested, safe, understood and welcomed. That’s exactly what I take away from Penn State.