Michelle Kaufman can predict the best students in her class from the first day.
On the first day of classes, she walks in confidently to her small classroom in Allen Hall. She plops down on her desk a large pile of media credentials — dating from the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France to various countries such as the South African or Brazilian World Cup, Wimbledon, and every notable sporting event imaginable — as proof of why she’s qualified to teach the class.
After 20 years of teaching Sports Reporting at her alma mater, she has grown to recognize greatness in her students instantly.
Every student in the 15-person class arrives eager to learn. Often it’s difficult to pique the interest of busy and tired college students, but these students show up happily to listen to Kaufman.
While the University of Miami promises hands-on experience to all of its students, no class delivers it like Kaufman’s. She considers her class more of an internship, and herself as more than just a professor.
“I am a mentor more than a professor, and my goal is that at the end of the semester, the students will have a very, very clear picture of what it is to work in sports media,” Kaufman said. “They will know either I love this and I want more of this, and I can picture myself doing this, or this is not the same as being a sports fan.”
She brings to the classroom 37 years of experience as a sportswriter, having covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, NCAA basketball tournaments, NBA playoffs and Super Bowls. She has served as the Miami Herald’s soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years..
Her students see her knowledge in every words she speaks. David Villavicencio, account supervisor at Chemistry Cultura who took her class in 2009, said her experience speaks for itself.
“I mean Michelle is so impressive with the proof of her success and experience and knowledge jumps out at you just the way that she carries herself and everything that she’s experienced and done,” Villavicencio said.
From sitting in the press conference room with Coco Gauff at the Miami Open to watching the NFL Draft from the Dolphins headquarters, even shaking hands with talented alumni who once sat in her class, real-life experience and networking become real in this classroom.
When beginning this class, many challenges stood in her way. When she began teaching, Kaufman was juggling a full-time career and raising a 5-year-old daughter.
“I thought she was a little crazy at first because she was already so busy,” said her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Dave Barry. “That would be adding another time-consuming thing onto her plate.”
But what seemed to concern her the most was giving her students the best experience.
“She was nervous if the students would like her, what would they think and I think that’s what makes her a good teacher is that she does genuinely care about the students,” Barry said.
And while she did not need to teach, she chose to, out of nothing more than a genuine passion for mentoring students.
“She wants to create all these relationships with all these people and learn as much about them as possible and help them through the rest of their lives, said her daughter, Sophie Barry. “At the end of the year, she invites everybody over to our house and does individualized awards for each specific person based on everything she’s learned about them and everything she knows about them.”
She began calling as many connections in Miami as she could find and through those connections a class was born, one that would manifest some of UM’s most successful alumni in the sports world. Through 20 years of caring for students, many have gone on to have long and notable careers in communications, journalism, and sports. Often they attribute their success to the real world lessons and connections they made through her class.
Her journey began and still remains in Miami. A Hurricane herself, Kaufman was actively involved in sports writing, dating back to her time at UM as a contributor for The Miami Hurricane, the student newspaper. Decades later, her students sit in press boxes, anchor desks, and editing bays across the country carrying with them the lessons she taught and the standard she set.
One of those students is David Furones, Miami Dolphins beat writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He credits Kaufman with giving him his start in 2011.
“She told me ‘David, I actually think you’re one of the better writers in this class, and I would love to set you up with Andre Fernandez just to cover some high school football games for the following fall,’ ” Furones said. “That really got me started.”
Her students witnessed compelling and unforgettable moments in sports history, moments they would carry with them forever.
Furones remembers covering a game featuring the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” and attending a post game press conference with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.
“It obviously left a huge impression on me as a college kid,” he said. “That was just an assignment for class.”
Kaufman remembers that night vividly.
“I think LeBron James scored his career-high 61 points, and on the night that my class was there, Kaufman said. “That was very amazing, because he came into the press conference. So he normally probably wouldn’t have spoken at the press conference, but he scored 61 points.”
She recalled other major moments students have experience: interviewing Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, or watching Lionel Messi score a goal live.
In a digital age of consuming news, Professor Kaufman could’ve chosen to evolve her class to solely teaching digital news, yet she holds on tight to her values from what she calls “the golden age” of journalism. Through 38 years of working in print journalism, she has watched the industry change before her eyes, and while she still provides modern tools for her students, nothing holds more importance than her core values.
“I sometimes think, is what I’m teaching becoming obsolete? Is what I’m teaching becoming outdated? Do I need to teach more about social media? Do I need to teach Tik Tok or something like that?” Kaufman said. “And then I think, no, there are people who can teach that, or who want to teach that. I still focus on the foundation of journalism, which is being accurate, being truthful, being fair, being able to sift fact from fiction, being able to cultivate sources, being able to gain people’s trust, learning how to write report and report correctly, the etiquette of all of it. All of those lessons, I think, are still extremely valuable.”
Her students carry her lessons and standards of journalisms into their current careers, such as NBC6 Reporter Briana Nespral who took the class in 2017.
“Whether I’m chasing a breaking story or or navigating into tough interviews, I kind of still hear her voice in the back of my mind pushing me to be sharper, fair, more focused and not just focus on the everyday questions,” Nespral said. “She would always talk about the golden nuggets. I still try to include those golden nuggets in every story that I can.”
Those golden nuggets are the particular part of a story that requires further focus, and can be used to take an average story into an exceptional one.
Graduate student Dara Karadsheh took the class this spring semester, and recalled the practical skills she learned in the classroom that she believes will well prepare her for her future career.
“One of the biggest things I learned from her class is how to manage your stress when you’re writing on a strict deadline,” Karadsheh said. “That was something I’ve never had that much experience with.”
As Michelle Kaufman leaves behind a two-decade journey at Miami. She leaves behind more than a syllabi and lecture notes. She leaves a legacy built on integrity, curiosity, and excellence. And after two decades, she shows no signs of slowing down.
Her classroom remains a space for growth, friendship, and a launchpad for the future of sports journalism—one story at a time.