Michelle Bearden reported on a pope’s visit to communist Cuba.

Michael Green took photos of Afghan rebels fending off communist Russia.

Sheila Gruber McClean’s reporting on the state’s social services bureaucracy led to criminal charges and reforms.?

Jim Reindl is a widely respected leader in the news business.

Inspired by the Watergate scandal, Randy Lovely helped expose an important presidential search the Central Michigan University board was holding in secret out of the public view at an off-campus hotel.

Lovely went on to become editor of The Arizona Republic, one of the nation’s largest newspapers.?

These three men and two women are some of the best journalists Central Michigan Life has produced over the past half century.?

They were inducted into the CMU Journalism Hall of Fame in October. Dick Milliman, who is not an alumnus but has hired scores of CM Lifers, also was inducted into the prestigious group.

Having been named the Hall of Fame’s Young Journalist of the Year, I got a chance to attend the dinner and meet these wonderful people.?

I idolize them and want to carry on the torch they have yielded so proudly in the name of CM Life.

For Michelle, Michael, Sheila, Jim, Randy and myself, the drive to tell stories, report the news and have a positive impact on people’s lives began at CM Life – in the basement of Anspach Hall where CM Life reporters and editors used to reside when they weren’t in class or at The Bird.

After accepting my award at the banquet, I sat and listened to these Hall of Famers talk about their careers in the field and their experiences at CM Life.

Green’s work has taken him to nearly every continent. He’s photographed everything from presidents to NFL games to the AIDs epidemic in Africa. Vice President Dick Cheney even asked him to be his personal photographer for the second Bush term, and he politely said no.

He would rather be a journalist than vice photographer-in-chief.

“You have to have a passion for storytelling, passion for people and (passion) for the news business itself,” Green was quoted as saying in a profile story written by CM Life senior reporter Sarah Schuch.

In reporter Andrea Rockafellow’s profile of Reindl, the former editor in chief who led the paper to national prominence put the true value of his career in context.

“It might seem like there is nothing better than reading your name in print on the front page, but the true satisfaction is found in shaping how the rest of the world is learning about events,” said Reindl, an Associated Press executive.

What is so great about CM Life is the next Reindl or Green is currently walking through the paper’s office on the fourth floor of Moore Hall. Who knows, it may be you.

Every journalism student has the potential to write their own ticket at CMU. It’s a place where mistakes are made and learning takes place every day from the reporters and photographers to the editor in chief.

It’s the ultimate training ground for a complex world of self-absorbed politicians, loudmouth football coaches and life’s little problems.?

But best of all, it’s a place to grow up and meet lifelong friends. Three years after graduating, I keep in almost daily contact with some of my closest CM Life colleagues and CMU professors.

Sheila Gruber McClean put it best: “We looked out for each other and we continue to today – there is an instant bond with people you meet when you know they have worked with CM Life.”

Chad Livengood is a former editor-in-chief of CM Life and 2005 CMU graduate. He is now the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader’s state capitol reporter. He can be reached at clivengood@gmail.com.

E-mail the author: Chad Livengood