Video by Elise Haverland ’25
by McKenzie Leary, Class of ’26
Ascend isn’t just the name of the University of Oregon’s newest magazine. It’s symbolic of what a class of roughly 30 UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) students can do when they get the opportunity to do meaningful sports journalism.
The idea of creating Ascend magazine originated as a conversation in fall 2024 between Professor of Practice Ivan Miller and the students in his Profiles and Narrative class. Miller noticed a wide range of talented writers in his course who were passionate about long-form stories and sports journalism. Miller has a background in sports reporting and magazine creation, and he wanted to use his professional expertise to empower his students.
Miller pitched the idea of creating a magazine and then met with interested students once a week to brainstorm story ideas. Sophie Fowler ’26 said those meetings were incredibly empowering.
“Every time I would talk about stories with Ivan, he would always be like, ‘Shoot for the stars! Go as far as you can and see what happens,’” said Fowler, a journalism major and Ascend writer. “I’ve never had a professor say that before. I thought that was really cool.”
Students get a taste of sports journalism
Miller’s enthusiasm for his students gave them the confidence to interview well-known athletes across the country.
Ruby Wool ’25, a journalism major and co-editor-in-chief of Ascend, wrote about Sabrina Ionescu, a three-time WNBA All-Star and WNBA champion, Olympic gold medalist and former Oregon Women’s Basketball standout. For the same article, she interviewed Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders quarterback, Heisman recipient and former Duck football hall of famer. She also wrote about University of Oregon heptathlete Gianna Bullock.
Journalism master’s student and co-editor-in-chief Brianna Carrasquillo wrote a personal narrative about her love of lacrosse as well as a long-form feature about Oregon basketball star Jackson Shelstad.
Malya Fass ’25 wrote about professional rock climber Margo Hayes.
Students develop professional sports writing skills
It was important to Miller that the magazine help students find their identities as professionals.
“I tell the students not to think of this as a class, necessarily. I want them to think like pros,” Miller said. “I want them to communicate with people — locally, across the country, around the world — and really believe that they are professionals and they can create a publication that can be right up there with the great sports and outdoor magazines.”
As a result, some students were granted experiential learning funds to cover travel for their stories. Fass went to San Diego for 48 hours to interview Hayes, while journalism student Kate Cooney ’25 attended the Big Ten Football Championship in Indianapolis to cover the Ducks.
It was important for all the SOJC students to create a magazine that was more than just another collection of sports stories.
“Our mission statement is to illuminate stories about humanity and how sports and the outdoors create community,” Wool said.
“There are so many varied perspectives in the magazine,” Carrasquillo added. “These stories are more than stats, more than the headlines you see on ESPN. These are raw experiences you don’t often get from watching a sport in person or seeing it behind a screen.”
The writers worked alongside student designers and photographers to create an 11-by-14-inch, 124-page print publication. Elise Haverland created a video that documents the process in the words of the student journalists.
Ascend helps students build portfolios, confidence and community
In addition to building their portfolios and gaining the memorable experience of working with professional athletes, students also built their confidence and found community.
“Ascend helped me grow my voice and become more confident voicing my opinions,” said Sofia Lentz, a senior advertising major and Ascend design editor. “I think it helped that we were all navigating this new, crazy magazine that we were creating together. This class strengthened my sense of community as an SOJC student.”
Readers can find copies of Ascend in Allen Hall or read it online. The Ascend team wants people to remember that every page is a reflection of hours of work by a large and dedicated team of SOJC students and UO faculty.
The student team hopes the inaugural issue marks the start of a new legacy in the SOJC.
“The magazine has created a community,” Wool said. “It’s not a sport, but it is very much a team. This is the inaugural edition. I hope that, in the future, this magazine continues, and just like any other team at Oregon, it’s going to be around forever.”
McKenzie Leary is a third-year public relations major in the UO School of Journalism and Communication, minoring in global studies. She is passionate about creating multimedia narratives, traveling and advocacy. McKenzie loves having the opportunity to share people’s stories and is also working on her novel.