The New Jersey chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists partnered with William Paterson University and announced on Monday that the New Jersey Journalism Hall of Fame has found a new home at the College of the Arts and Communication.

An inaugural induction will be held on April 18 in Hobart Hall. During this time, the William Paterson Society of Professional Journalists Awards Ceremony will also be taking place.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m., and guests can enjoy drinks and food before the festivities, which begin at 7 p.m. The event will be free for WPU students. All other tickets can be bought in advance online for $20 and $25 at the door.

The first class of the New Jersey Journalism Hall of Fame consists of five inductees: Jonathan Alter, an author and former columnist for Newsweek; Anna Quindlen, an author and former columnist for the New York Times; John McPhee, an author and writer for the New Yorker; Gabe Pressman, legendary television news journalist for more than 60 years; and the late Edith Schapiro, who worked on the first broadcasts of the CBS Evening News before becoming the first female editor at the Newark Evening News. A panel of former presidents of the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists nominated the five inductees. Board members for the national Society of Professional Journalists also viewed and approved the nominations.

John Ensslin, president of the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists, will be the moderator for the event.

“New Jersey has a rich legacy of great journalism,” Ensslin said in Monday’s a press release.

Dr. Nicholas Hirshon will also be in attendance. Hirshon is a journalism professor at WPU and a founding member and the adviser for the William Paterson Society of Professional Journalists, also known as WPSPJ.

“I’m honored that our university will become the home for the New Jersey Journalism Hall of Fame,” Hirshon said in the press release. “This cements William Paterson’s status as a premiere journalism program in the metropolitan area.”

The event will take place in Hobart Hall’s Martini Room. During the event, WPSPJ will acknowledge three journalists as Friends of WPSPJ for their donations and contributions to the chapter in the past year. The three Friends of WPSPJ will be John Ensslin, the NJSPJ president; Denis Gorman, a freelance sports reporter; and Ruth Ross, a theater critic. The WPSPJ has shadowed both Gorman and Ross in the past while they were on the job. Ensslin taught a podcast workshop at WPU in the fall of 2018 for WPSPJ and others who were interested in joining.

The celebration will also include the unveiling of a plaque that will hold the names of the New Jersey Journalism Hall of Fame inductees and will be visible in Hobart Hall year-round.