A student walkout and the resignations of two directors last fall – including the only lawyer – have led to another dramatic shift at the Red and Black student newspaper at the University of Georgia: eight new members of the Red and Black Publishing Company’s self-perpetuating board.

The company posted the announcement Tuesday afternoon on redandblack.com and on the Red and Black alumni Facebook page.

Also on the Facebook page, editorial director Ed Morales posted photos of some the new board members, as well as retiring chairman Elliott Brack, who was honored for his 33 years of service to the independent publishing company with a dinner in Athens Friday evening.

By midnight Tuesday, the posts had generated a string of  congratulatory comments and some criticism for a continuing lack of diversity. The diversity point was answered by long-time director Melita Easters, who said she is the new board chair and a woman devoted to “electing women and women’s causes,” and Charles Russell, the lawyer-board member who resigned when the students who walked out were rehired. Russell said the board “has always been quite diverse.”

The new board members are:

Greg Bluestein — political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Red & Black’s editor
in chief from 2003-04. He’s also a former Daily Report staff writer.

Chuck Reece – creative director, content at Unboundary, a communications consulting firm, and The Red & Black’s editor in chief in 1983.

Steven M. Sears – senior editor and columnist with Barron’s and Barrons.com. and a news writer for The Red & Black from 1988 to 1990.

Eric Heuett — a certified public accountant and a Red & Black advertising account executive from 2003 to 2004.

Samira Jafari — A supervising news editor at CNN Digital and The Red & Black’s editor in chief from 2001-02.

Andria Krewson — an independent journalist in Charlotte, N.C.,  a student in the digital master’s program at the University of
North Carolina and The Red & Black’s news editor in 1981.

Joey Powell — an account executive at the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Red and Black’s student advertising manager in 2005.

Justin Gillis – A reporter covering global climate change for The New York Times and  The Red and  Black’s editor in chief in
1981.

Contributor: Katheryn Hayes Tucker in Freedom of Information | subscribe to rss |   share