Larry Barron Fund For Mentorship

Larry Barron

1965-2020

Larry Barron left an indelible impact throughout his all too short life on the many people, business, and institutions that he touched. His enthusiasm was contagious, his positivity was inspiring, and his ability to help and mentor others, especially Syracuse University students and grads, was almost superhuman. Throughout his professional life, Larry used his incredible network to connect people for mentoring and business relationships. He staffed his production teams with SU interns every chance he could, and he helped young graduates connect with movers and shakers in the media and entertainment industry for employment opportunities before and after graduating. Part of Larry’s legacy is as a consummate mentor and business connector, on top of being one of the most caring people anyone would ever know.

Larry loved SU, he stayed deeply involved with Syracuse University his entire adult life. Larry loved Los Angeles and the media/entertainment community too. He made his career, name and home in LA. Larry loved WJPZ as one of the station’s most important student mangers during his time at SU and an influential alumnus since graduating.

And Larry loved to help young, talented, driven people.

After Larry’s passing, a fund was set up in Larry’s name at Syracuse University to carry on his legacy of mentoring and opening doors for young people aspiring to have careers in the media and entertainment business. The Larry Barron Fund for Mentorship (LBFM), a fun play on the oversized role he had in getting WJPZ on the FM dial in the 1980’s, was established to provide Syracuse students with an opportunity for meaningful connections with key industry professionals for mentoring, networking, and internship opportunities before they graduate from SU. Larry instinctively knew that getting a start in the competitive business of media and entertainment would require not just smarts and hard work, but a little help from established professional in the business. Larry’s ability to help certainly knew no bounds. It is our hope that LBFM will carry on Larry’s incredible legacy.

The Larry Barron Fund For Mentorship (LBFM) Program

• Two worthy Syracuse University students will be chosen each year for a 4 day visit to Los Angeles for meetings, introductions, meet and greets, tours, meals, and activities that connect them with established executives in media and entertainment.
• The LBFM program will take place over the SU Spring Break Week.
• Students will be chosen based on an application and essay submitted during the fall semester the previous year.
• A committee will select students who have distinguished themselves in certain ways and who can also benefit the most from this program by turning connections into internships before they graduate.
• Students must have demonstrated a strong interest in a career in media or entertainment.
• One student will be chosen “at large” from SU and the other will be selected from active members of the WJPZ staff.
• Students will be chosen by a committee including Carl Weinstein, Scott Bergstein and a panel consisting of LA media and entertainment professionals, SU faculty and past LBFM participants.
• Participating Los Angeles executives will consist of both SU alumni and other industry professionals (originally in Larry’s network and growing from there).
• The LBFM program will coordinate and partner with the other immersion week programs to amortize costs of travel and accommodations.
• Existing program funds will be used to cover hard costs such as airfare, hotel, transportation, and meals, plus any ancillary cost that are not covered. The plan is to keep those at a minimum. The participating executives (and/or their companies) will be asked to cover the cost of meals, entertainment, tours, etc. while hosting the students.
• The schedule will be fully packed to maximize the exposure to the new connections and the time spent in LA for the visit. Possible schedule fly in Day 1 and out at the end of Day 4, with meals, meetings, meet and greets, activities, and more packed in between.
• A marketing plan designed to reach SU students as well as alumni will tap into university social media, publications, mailing lists, and other communications resources to raise program awareness for student applications and alumni participation. We plan to use an existing SU marketing/PR major to facilitate initial marketing.