Jan Slater, dean of the College of Media, said fundraising for the Ebert Center, which has a $5 million budget, has recently surpassed its halfway point.

The annual Ebertfest film festival serves to commemorate Roger’s life work, but Slater said she hopes that, through the center, people can appreciate and fully honor Ebert’s work year round.

“This (center) is Roger’s legacy. He wanted a place where people could come and have strong discussions about the epics and impact of film and its technology,” she said. “He was a masterful journalist and masterful film critic, and we are trying to create a program that he would have endorsed.”

Slater said although the Center is not an academic program, they hope that it will be a virtual programmatic conduit that will connect the industry to the public.

According to Chaz Ebert’s blog, widow of the late Roger Ebert, the center’s first program to reach the University will be the Ebert Fellows. The Ebert Fellows are three students who are given scholarships and mentored by Michael Phillips, a Chicago Tribune critic; Riane Lenzner-White, Shalayne Pulia and Ashish Valentine were announced as the first Ebert Fellows at the 2015 Ebertfest.

“As a broadcasting major, I’m used to writing about news events, but this is a unique chance to do something a bit more subjective and write about film and the arts,” Lenzner-White said in an email interview.

Additionally, the Ebert Fellows will be honoring Ebert’s legacy as they delve into his passions and talent.

“Mr. Ebert was extremely passionate about the impact film can have on civil rights and humanitarianism,” Lenzner-White said. “Sharing that passion as well as teaching the production and technical aspects of film would be the ultimate way to honor somebody who gave so much to film and the University.”

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