Day in the Life of Duke Schneider

Donald (Duke) Schneider is no stranger to the St. Ambrose community, because he is a jack-of-all-trades on campus. You may have taken a class with him, seen him on the sidelines with a camera at a basketball game, or even watched him video record many theatrical productions here at SAU. There is no missing him around campus, and even a pandemic did not stop us from seeing the many talents of Schneider.

On a typical day, Schneider teaches production, journalism, and media-related classes here at St. Ambrose.

"There is an abundance of talent at SAU, especially in Galvin," Schneider said. "I work with amazing, dedicated people. I learn from them every day."

Schneider has many responsibilities here at SAU, but they have certainly changed due to the pandemic.

"COVID-19 has forced everyone to do things a bit differently," Schneider said. "We have been able to continue to do our Dateline SAU newscasts, even if in a slightly different way."

Other than the newscasts, Schneider is also responsible for covering live sports here on campus.

"The pandemic has really curtailed our ability to do LIVE sporting events to the extent we used to," Schneider said. "A strong part of our major is the ability to learn in a "hands-on" environment. We are trying to maintain that as much as possible while keeping everyone safe and healthy."

Schneider has also lended his talents to the Theatre Department. This year, in particular, he has helped tremendously with the limited theatre events St. Ambrose was able to hold. Schneider assisted students with their video submissions for the Region 5 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival's Irene Ryan and Musical Theatre events and also helped the theatre department with some recent live-streamed productions, so that people could still enjoy the talent Ambrose has to offer.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has made many things rather tricky, Schneider has not let that get in the way of all his different tasks. The theatre department is immensely appreciative of Schneider's help, especially now that virtual performances have become the norm. Make sure to keep an eye out for Scheider's next theatre-related project, recording for the Musical Theatre class's Cabaret. And, if you see him around campus, make sure to thank him for his many contributions to the department and campus as a whole!