January 2015 marks my eighth anniversary as the head of Public Relations at Hinds Community College. I came here after a career in journalism, including nearly 25 years at The Clarion-Ledger, 17 of those as an education writer.
I began work here on Jan. 8, 2007, with my first event being the annual spring convocation. I believe the first story I wrote was about that year’s emeritus class when we honored the late Vashti Muse, Bob Dunaway and Adam Jenkins for their service to Hinds. Just a few days ago, I finished a release honoring retirees Rebecca Tustain and Dr. Dan Hogan who were named as this year’s emeritus honorees. Hogan retired the first year I worked at Hinds.
Working at a higher education institution is very different from working at a newspaper, of course. I was surprised at how heavy and fast-paced the workload was, just like newspaper work was. But there is a lot more variety in my job duties. On any given day, I may escort a television crew to an interview about our new tobacco-free policy, teach a class of student journalists in a publications class, participate on a committee discussing student services policies or write a feature story about a graduate for our alumni magazine.
The variety and the fast pace keep me busy – and, I hope, fresh.
I’ve had the pleasure of covering lots of big events at Hinds. I thought in celebration of my eight years here I would spotlight a few of the stories I’ve covered at Hinds each year. These aren’t necessarily the biggest of the year in terms of news value – but important to me.
2007 - In April, Hinds gained 60 acres of land along I-20 next to our Rankin Campus and Pearl High School. The Garner family including Ronnie, Sigrid and their son T.I. donated 40 acres of land and the Rankin County Board of Supervisors purchased another 20 acres for the college.
The land acquisition more than doubled the size of the Rankin Campus, which has the second highest enrollment of Hinds’ six locations.
The next year, in 2008, the college unveiled the expansion plans for what is now the Clyde Muse Center, with a 3,000-seat auditorium. Opening in 2011, the Muse Center has been the location for fabulous Hinds events, plus it has been booked for events ranging from high school graduations to trade shows to conferences.
2009 – Hinds broke a credit enrollment record of more than 12,000 students. On the first day of fall classes, students parked on Hinds Boulevard on the Raymond Campus because there were no available spaces. I remember having to park there myself when I returned from someplace and there were no parking spaces.
2010 - In May, we hosted for the first time what has become an annual tradition – a field trip at Renfroe Stadium for Hinds County special education students. I’ve worked that event several times and it’s always fun and heart-warming. Hinds employees and students probably have as much fun as the kids do. That same spring, Hinds began the first district wide GED graduation, which has also become an annual event. The first year 84 GED achievers participated. I love hearing their inspiring stories of why they decided to get their GED. Many times, it’s to be a role model for their children or grandchildren.
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2011 - Hinds Honors student Tameka Wilson was elected as the first Phi Theta Kappa International officer from Hinds when she won the job of president from among a field of 10 candidates. I got to know Tameka a bit and was impressed with her drive and determination.
2012 - A beautiful new classroom building at Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center was named for the late trustee Jobie Martin. That building continues to win awards for its innovative and energy efficient design. We also opened two new residence halls on the Raymond Campus, one for women and one for men, a much needed boost to our residential life.
2013 – Hinds and Mississippi University for Women inked a partnership allowing culinary arts students to get their bachelor’s degree at Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center. This partnership is among many we have with state public and private universities that benefit Hinds graduates and, in some cases, our employees.
Kendra Conley, one of my former students on the Hindsonian staff, was surprised when her dad who had been deployed in Afghanistan as a sergeant in the Army made it to her May graduation. He had videotaped a message to her but managed to get home in time to see her get her diploma. Getting all of that arranged made for a hectic but exciting day.
Graduation is probably my one most favorite event to cover. I love seeing the excitement in the faces of the graduates and their families, especially the nursing graduates.
2014 – We spotlighted our Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program at John Bell Williams Airport at spring convocation that included special guest Mississippi first lady Deborah Bryant. We also opened the new George Ball Simulation Center at Jackson Campus-Nursing/Allied Health Center that is a huge boost for our nursing and allied health students as a way to practice their clinical skills. And exciting for us sports fans – the Hinds Eagle baseball team came within a hair of winning the national title in baseball at the World Series in Enid, Okla.
In between all of these stories I’ve singled out, there have been lots of events that we have every year, sometimes several times –graduations, convocations, legislative meetings, employee and student award recognitions, homecoming and the annual April golf tournament, among many others. All of these stories have one big thing in common: They’re all about the people of Hinds Community College, students, employees or members of our community.
It’s been a great run so far, and I’m looking forward to many more years to come.
