Front page of The Delta Statement

1. DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY
THE DELTA STATEMENT
Hugh Ellis Walker : Delta State Football:
Statesmen win Heritage Bell
Classic 27-3
Remembering the legacy of
a beloved alumnus
A3 B1 thedeltastatement.com or @StatementOnline
Serving the Delta State community since 1931
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Volume 83 Issue 10
Delta State cuts iconic journalism program
SEE CUTS A4
Journalism lab to be dedicated,
ceremony to name lab after DSU alum
SEE JOURNALISM A4
Taylor Holland was crowned Delta State’s 2014 Homecoming Queen on Nov. 15. Photo by Elisabetta Zengaro
Elisabetta Zengaro
Editor-in-Chief
“I have a keen sense of
support for student
journalism and applaud
our students on the
great job that they do on the
paper,” Delta State University
President Bill LaForge said in an
article about National News-paper
Week published in The
Delta Statement on Oct. 9, 2014.
“I look forward to reading The
Delta Statement each week.”
“The paper gives the whole
DSU community a journal of
events and happenings from
around our campus,” LaForge
also said in the article. “It gives
us that voice from the Fourth
Estate.”
However, that “voice from
the Fourth Estate” received a
$10,000 budget cut in a move to
“transition to digital,” and Delta
State’s journalism program was
also cut, decisions unanimously
approved by the President’s
Cabinet.
These cuts were announced
in an email LaForge sent out
to students on Nov. 5, 2014,
where he attached a copy of
the “Campus Update: Budget
Reduction Plan” and “Budget
Reduction Plan: Q&A.”
The journalism program
was identifi ed for possible
elimination in July 2014 based
on the following criteria:
According to the Academic
Program Review document for
Low-Enrolled/Low-Producing
Programs during Phase I of
the program review process,
programs that were identifi ed
for review were undergraduate
programs with less than 20
majors and graduate programs
with less than 15 majors, had less
than 10 graduates from 2012-
2013 and generate less than 300
credit hours.
In July (which was after
spring semester graduation and
before the offi cial start of the next
academic year), there were 15
journalism majors. However, by
September 2014, when students
had fi nished registering for fall
classes, the journalism program
had 21 majors, according to the
program’s defense document.
As for the second point, the
provost and the cabinet reviewed
programs that had less than 10
graduates from 2012-2013, but
according to the Mississippi
Institutions of Higher Learning
(IHL), undergraduate programs
need to produce only 15
graduates over a three-year
span, which was not taken into
consideration, according to the
“Academic Program Review.”
While journalism had only fi ve
graduates within the 2012-2013
academic year, it was within
IHL standards and one of four
programs with fi ve graduates that
year. An additional 14 programs
on the list had less than fi ve
graduates.
According the defense
for the journalism program,
journalism, “unlike many larger
programs, has in recent years
met and/or exceeded the IHL
requirement of fi ve or more
graduates per year. The offi cial
numerical goal has been met even
though graduates who double
major are often not included in
the statistics.”
The third point addressed
in the program review was
credit hour production. Out of
22 programs identifi ed as having
less than 300 credit hours,
journalism produced the most
credit hours during the 2013-
2014 academic year, and seven
programs produced zero credit
hours in 2013-2014.
On Nov. 6, 2014, LaForge
addressed the program and
budget cuts approved by his
cabinet to faculty and staff in a
forum.
“Let me start by saying that
the decisions made in everything
in front of you in the matrix
you have are numbers, data and
metric driven,” LaForge said
in the faculty forum. “It’s all
institutional. Everything we did
went to the Institute of what’s
good for Delta State.
“None of it, from our aspect
of it, was aiming at a program
per se or a person per se. It had
nothing to do with that.”
But based on the criteria
given, the journalism program
should not have undergone
review, since the program did
meet IHL requirements for
producing graduates and had
over 20 majors.
Dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences Dr. David Breaux
said the bachelor’s degree in
environmental science and
the master’s degree in natural
science had been identifi ed by the
IHL for having low numbers and
were placed on the list for further
review, but neither of these two
programs was one of the fi ve
programs that were ultimately
cut. In addition, Breaux said the
rubrics used in the budget review
and the curriculum review were
“separate from IHL requirements
or rubrics that are used.”
The programs under review
were also asked to undergo a
“Narrative Analysis.” According
to the “Narrative Analysis”
portion of the program review
process, programs under
review were asked to address
the following questions: “1.
Does the identifi ed program
Support General Education? 2.
Chiquita Williams
Staff Writer
Previously Published on
April 10, 2008
Six years ago, Mississippi
sportswriter S. Wayne
Thompson (DSU ’43), left
his life savings to Delta
State to strengthen journalism
education.
On Monday, April 14, at
2 pm, friends and colleagues
of the late Mr. Thompson will
gather on the second fl oor of the
H.L. Nowell Student Union to
dedicate one result of that legacy:
the new S. Wayne Thompson
Journalism Lab, home of both
the Delta Statement newsroom
and a collaborative journalism
classroom.
Key speakers at the event
will be Mr. Thompson’s friend,
Dr. Leroy Morganti, DSU vice
president emeritus, as well as
Delta native Hodding Carter, a
prominent national journalist and
commentator.
Benoit native Thompson
died in 2002 at the age of 80
after a long career as sports
writer for the Jackson Clarion
Ledger and the Memphis
Commercial Appeal. His many
awards included Mississippi
Sports Writer of the Year (1965),
Mississippi Sports Writer Hall of
Fame, and honorary membership
in the PGA of America. Even
though Thompson wasn’t a
wealthy man his gift was large,
according to Morganti.
“His best memories are
of this campus, and walking on
the quad one day he told me he
would give something to DSU
when he died. I had no idea it
would be $350,000, his entire
estate,” Morganti said. “He loved
young people and because of that
wanted to help those that were in
his chosen profession.
“Wayne Thompson was
highly principled both in his
life and career. He was the most
unusual person I have ever
known, and had the quickest wit
of anybody I have ever known.
His wit and personality reminded
me of Don Rickels (American
comedian and actor),” Morganti
added.
“It seemed like the more
he picked on you the more you
liked him. His main loves in life
were his wife, his profession,
and gall,” Morganti said. “He
infl uenced me and a lot of people,
and I am honored to have known
him, work for him, and call him
my friend.”
The Thompson legacy also
funds journalism scholarships in
memory of Thompson’s parents,
Silas Wayne and Lula Wilson
Thompson, awarded annually to
as many as ten Delta Statement
staff members.
Morganti says the
journalism program is a valuable
part of the Delta State curriculum.
“I think the journalism profession
is more important then ever. The
decrease in daily newspapers
concerns me. The current
generation seems less interested
in what is going on in the world.
The abundant use of TV and
Internet is the problem. People
don’t read newspapers like they
use to. Now they have 30 second
sound bites.”
According to DSU Assistant
Professor of Journalism Patricia
Roberts, both the new setting
and the scholarship fund enhance
what journalism students can
accomplish at Delta State.
“I never had the privilege
of meeting Mr. Thompson,
but in some ways I feel I know
Taylor Holland crowned Delta
State’s 2014 Homecoming Queen
LaPetra Wilson
Staff Writer
Delta State University held
its annual Homecoming
on Saturday, Nov. 15,
and celebrated one of
its homecoming festivities by
unveiling the 2014 Homecoming
Queen.
This year’s Homecoming
Queen, Taylor Holland, is
from Grenada, Miss., and is
the daughter of Bob and Kim
Holland.
Holland, is a senior biology
/pre-physical therapy major,
member of Kappa Delta Sorority,
Omicron Delta Kappa, Beta Beta
Beta, Alpha Epsilon Delta and
the DSU Softball team.
Holland is also a member of
the Catholic Student Association,
Student Athletic Advisory
Committee (SAAC) and Kappa
Alpha Rose Court.
“I am so excited and
thankful to represent Delta State
as Homecoming Queen,” Holland
said. “I was so overwhelmed and
a little bit chilly.”
“Becoming DSU
Homecoming Queen is such
an honor, and I am so proud to
represent Delta State as a student
athlete,” she added. “I am so
thankful for everyone that voted
and for all of the support [from
my] sisters and Lady Statesmen
softball teammates.”
Brinkley Henry and
Shelby Tuttle were freshman
maids. Katie Ann Locke
and Dana Newsome were
the sophomore maids. The
junior maids were Allison
Dale and Emilee Grem. The
senior maids were Ericka
Robinson, Whitney Crum, and
Homecoming Queen Holland.
him, through our mutual love
of journalism,” Roberts said.
“I feel a deep responsibility to
use his legacy as he intended, to
challenge a new generation of
students to master the skills of
the profession.
“Delta State already offers
one of the best programs in print
journalism in the state,” Roberts
continued. “The S. Wayne
Thompson Journalism Lab will
enable us to continue to grow,
to add more courses and more
opportunities for journalism
majors and minors.
“Our goal is to train a
new generation of journalists
who can utilize the new tools
of the profession, as well as
traditional professional skills.
The Mississippi Delta offers an
excellent setting, due to the rich
heritage of great journalism from
this region,” Roberts added.
The Silas Wayne and Lula
Wilson Thompson Scholarship
“helps Delta State students build
solid professional skills, and
also contributes to the life of
campus community,” Roberts
said. “Without this fi nancial
help, many journalism students
would need to spend their spare
time working at off campus jobs,
which wouldn’t promote their
professional growth.”
BPAC director David
Dallas, one of the many former
Delta Statement editors who will
attend the lab dedication event,
feels journalism is a vital part of
campus life.
“I’m excited about the
dedication. This will be a great
step for the journalism program,”
Dallas said. “The journalism
lab being named in Thompson’s
honor gives the university a