Judging success
Siblings Virginia Judge Horan ’87 and Jonathan Judge ’93 share more than family traditions: They share a passion for people, writing and a University of Dayton education that launched two very different careers.
Horan was the first onto campus’s red brick in August of 1983. A communications student studying broadcast journalism, Horan’s path led her to Flyer News and the public relations office. She fell in love with both — writing press releases, pitching stories to news outlets and organizing articles the old-fashioned way, carefully curating the pages with a wax machine and X-Acto knife. Before long, she was writing her own column for Flyer News — weekly entertainment or opinion pieces where she mused about the goings-on of college life.
When Judge arrived a few years later, he followed his sister’s footsteps to Flyer News and the PR office. His column, “Judge for Yourself,” a weekly Erma Bombeck-inspired comedy piece, quickly became a staple of the student paper.
“How lucky was I to have that outlet, to have a publication take what I was ranting about, or musing about and publish it,” Judge said. “I think the reason I even knew I could do that is my sister… So many things I did, I did because I saw her do it first.”
Horan agreed: “That was an unbelievable opportunity. We were right in the middle of it.”
Their coursework and involvement proved to be a crash course in storytelling — teaching them how to draw an audience in, communicate effectively, think critically and end with a powerful close.
Horan and Judge took those skills and ran with them — in two different directions.
Today, you won’t find Judge’s name in a university newspaper. You’re more likely to see it on TV. A conversation with a friend in a movie theater completely shifted the English major's career path from an advertising track to the film industry.
After a year at New York University’s Tish School of the Arts and unpaid internships shooting indie films while crashing on Horan’s couch, Judge’s comedy knack led him to directing award-winning family favorites like Blue's Clues, The Thundermans and Big Time Rush.
It’s a dream job bringing to life stories that spark imagination and joy.
“He has always been so funny and clever,” said Horan. “So then next thing you know, you’re seeing his name up on your TV screen; it’s mind-blowing”
Horan’s career took a different route. Just before graduating, she fell in love with teaching while working as a speech facilitator in the communications department. She jumped into advertising while pursuing her master's in communication at New York University at night. When she finished, she pivoted into higher education at the largest community college in New York, where she still serves today as a professor and academic chair.
At an open-access institution where many students doubt their ability to succeed, Horan saw how much their preparation differed from UD students. No one was teaching them how to navigate college.
She rose to meet the need. In addition to her master’s work in communication, she took 36 post-graduate credit hours in pedagogy and student engagement and launched the Student Centered Planner — a physical planner paired with YouTube videos to help students build study and organizational habits.
Through these intentional extra steps, she shows students that they are capable of succeeding even when the cards are stacked against them.
For both siblings, the long path of success leads back to campus.
“It was all because of UD,” Horan said, “because the experience I had there made me want to be like the professors that I had.”
Judge echoed her sentiments: “It was a foundation. That’s what college is supposed to be, right?... It goes back to those editors who said yes, those seniors who said yes… and then the people at the office of public relations who just continued to help me grow as a writer, but also as a person.”
That “success” isn’t just measured by titles, but by their impact on others: bringing a smile to a little kid's face or going the extra mile to help students see their own potential.
“God wanted me at the University of Dayton because he wanted me to care about people,” Horan said. “I don’t think either one of us are typical of the people in our fields. We’re not. We’re nicer, we’re more giving, because of what we’d learned there… I don’t know how they make the magic, but I hope it never changes.”
It’s pretty safe to say that it hasn’t. UD is still building futures, still shaping lives.
But we’ll let you be the judge.
Photos courtesy of the Judge family.