Maggie Jones Patterson may have not ever taught at Point Park, but her influence and what she did for journalism in the Pittsburgh region cannot be understated.

Patterson, who taught at Duquesne University for 42 years until May, died on Nov. 10 at 80 years old from cardiac arrest. Originally a news writer for the Pittsburgh Press, which was one of Pittsburgh’s biggest newspapers until a 1992 strike led to it being bought by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, she was instrumental in starting Duquesne’s journalism program.

So much so, that Duquesne’s president, Ken Gormley, said it would not exist without her.

Patterson was brought to the university not too far from Point Park in 1982 as a professor and the chair of Duquesne’s student publication board. There, she defended the rights of student journalists to report on stories without restriction, even in moments where Duquesne’s Student Government Association wanted articles to be taken down for having too much information or when a book author threatened to sue the paper due to a bad review, according to reporting from The Duke, Duquesne’s student-run newspaper.

She was someone who believed the basic principles of journalism of fairness and accuracy should be upheld no matter what but also believed the field could be inclusive in both its coverage of stories and with the people who work as journalists.

There’s no other way to explain Patterson’s contributions to the field other than her being significant and extremely important to the Pittsburgh region’s media landscape. She was a trailblazer that paved the way for young journalists to learn the craft and know what to do with the power given to them.

And it’s not just Duquesne who recognized her greatness. The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania gave her the Service to Journalism Award, people such as Tribune-Review editor Luis Fabregas and Duquesne Publication Board member Bobby Kerlik all have given Patterson praise for wanting to improve journalism in the region.

Because if we as student reporters don’t have someone who can believe in us, stand up for us and keep us in check, the idea of a student-run newspaper can be a lot more challenging. Every student newspaper should have a professional with skin in the game backing it and Patterson was exactly that for The Duke.

It’s no wonder Duquesne’s student-run newspaper is something its students should be proud of. For decades, it had someone who stood behind the newspaper’s staff and protected what is ultimately a rough draft of history. Such is true for any newspaper, including The Globe.

As a board member of Pittsburgh’s PublicSource, an investigative newsroom which highlights stories and first-person perspectives in the region which need to be told, her care went far beyond higher education, the classroom and student media.

The loss of someone so important to news in Pittsburgh is sad and will be felt for quite a while. Student newsrooms need to be supported in her honor, because like it or not, we are real journalists. We do all the work of a normal reporter regardless of section or beat, we edit, build layouts and assign stories all while juggling classes and jobs to keep tuition paid.

Patterson recognized this across the board and fought for student journalists at Duquesne. In her honor, we implore all those in power on publication boards spanning various universities to fight for us like she did for Duquesne. Journalism can’t have a future if those who should care, don’t.