ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ

From 1941: Former ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ State President – KIDNAPPED!

Eighty-three years ago, a false news story about the abduction of ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ State’s first president helped train aspiring journalists

On April 26, 1941, in an early version of a β€œfront page takeover,” the headline of the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater read β€œDr. John E. McGilvrey Held By Two Thugs In Barn On University Campus.”

An accompanying story, offering McGilvrey’s biography is headlined β€œOne of Oldest Educators, Dr. McGilvrey, Loved ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ."

John E. McGilvrey - ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ State's first president

The stories were created by high school students visiting campus for the fourth annual Ohio Scholastic Press Clinic. The one-day program welcomed the largest number of high school journalists – nearly 1,000 – ever assembled at a state clinic. The clinic was held during the three-day Ohio College Newspaper Association Convention.

As part of the university's commitment to maintaining partnerships with industry professionals, ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ State and its College of Communication and Information regularly host conferences and conventions for journalists. Very recently, April 19-20, 2024, the university welcomed the Ohio Scholastic Media Association State Convention. Ohio Scholastic Media Association is the current name of 1941's Ohio Scholastic Press. 

The 1941 Convention

The high school student’s program on campus included a keynote address by Jack Raper from The Cleveland Press, who at age 77, was billed as the β€œoldest columnist in the country.”

There were also contests for photography, feature writing and best news story, along with a β€œSunset dance” and a closing banquet at the Twin Lakes Country Club.

The Story of the Kidnapping

The β€œdramatized story” exercise began the students’ day on campus and was led by Betty Crampton, editor of the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater, and John Mine a ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater reporter.

The ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater, April 26, 1941

 

In the fabricated story that ran in the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater, the high school students reported:

Dr. John E. McGilvrey Held By Two Thugs In Barn On University Campus

Bulletin

Stable Boy Escapes Kidnappers; Brillinger Believed In Gang

A last ditch fight is being staged in a barn on the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ State Campus by two men reported to be holding Dr. John E. McGilvrey. McGilvrey was kidnapped early this morning. It has been definitely proven that one of the gangsters trapped in the barn is John Brillinger, subject of a nation-wide hunt.

***

Dr. John E. McGilvrey, president emeritus of ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ, who was kidnapped from his home at 5 this morning, is being held by two gangsters in a barn at the rear of the KSU campus, a 13 year-old stable boy reported to police. John Lewis, the stable boy, escaped from the barn after being tied up by the thugs who it was Dr. McGilvrey who has Lewis phoned police early this morning that he was "certain it was Dr. McGilvrey who has been captured." Dr. McGilvrey was forced into his clothes by four men at his home, 518 E. Summit St., according to a story told by hysterical Mrs. McGilvrey. Mrs. McGilvrey who has been ill for quite some time, was bound and gagged when the thugs left with Dr. McGilvrey.

Neighbor Reports Kidnapping

First news of the kidnapping was phoned by a neighbor who was taking breakfast to Mrs. McGilvrey. Police began scouring the countryside when it was learned that Dr. McGilvrey had been abducted, but were sumoned back to the station when a call came through from Lewis that Dr. McGilvrey was in the barn.

Notorious Gangster

One of the men in the barn is believed to be John Brillinger, who is being sought in connection with the killing of two gangsters in Columbus. Brillinger was believed to be in either Ohio or Michigan. The stable boy's description of the men holding Dr. McGilvrey, pictured them as gruff and unkempt. One of the men, Lewis said, was short and stout, had a full face and thick black hair that he wore straight back. He had a couple day's growth of beard. The other was slightly taller and had brown wavy hair.

Attempt to Steal Car

Lewis also reported to police that the gangsters had smashed a car near the barn and that he had heard them say that two other members of the gang had gone into town in an attempt to steal another one. Money was believed to be the gangster's only motive for kidnapping Dr. McGilvrey, police said.

A Dedicated Prank

The first clue that this story was not genuine, to people at the time, was the name of the leader of the gang of kidnappers, β€œJohn Brillinger.” It’s strikingly similar to β€œJohn Dillinger,” an infamous gangster and bank robber of the 1930s.

Otherwise, there’s no clue in the two lead stories about the kidnapping that the news is fictional. Even the story that shares the front page, about the journalism clinic that created the β€œdramatized news event” offers no clue that the kidnapping story is a product of that exercise.

Journalism Stampede

 

Even the next issue of the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater, published on April 29, made no mention of the kidnap story, other than that the on-campus clinic had concluded, reporting β€œJournalism Stampede Ends; KSU Back To Normal Again.”

The Evening Record

 

It seems that the only revelation of the story’s true origin appearing in print was published in The Evening Record edition of The Daily Courier-Tribune in Ravenna on Monday, April 28. Under the headline "Ravenna Journalists Check Kidnap Notes,"  and a photo of Ravenna high school students who participated in the exercise was this copy:

Nearly 1,000 northestern Ohio high school journalists matched their talents Saturday morning to report the "kidnapping of Dr. John McGilvrey, President Emeritus of ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ. 

Staged as part of the Northeastern Ohio Scholastic Press Clinic program, the fake kidnapping was a dramatized news event on which contestants from various schools were to report with competition and prizes for the best stories on the farce. 

Four comely Ravenna high school students are shown above comparing notes on the kidnapping, preparatory to writing their stories. 

Ravenna high school journalists
POSTED: Friday, April 26, 2024 09:27 AM
Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 11:50 AM
WRITTEN BY:
Phil B. Soencksen
PHOTO CREDIT:
ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Stater Digital Archive, ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Libraries