As of Monday, the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs has a new director, Jenee Slocum. After most recently worked as policy director of the Louisiana Budget Project, Slocum has decided to return to her alma mater.
Slocum is an alumna of the University’s Manship School of Mass Communication and served as Student Government president during her time as a student.
“My background is really varied,” Slocum said. “I’ve, throughout life, really followed my passions.”
Slocum started her professional career at the University, beginning as a student leader. Slocum said this position peaked her interest into what the purpose of universities is, how that purpose relates to access for individuals and how it creates future opportunities.
After completing her undergraduate degree, Slocum attended graduate school,
obtaining both her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her pathway into access to higher education began at LSU, and Slocum’s opportunity to research abroad in graduate school took her to Honduras, Argentina and Brazil.
“[I] happened to see some of my friends and former colleagues as a student at LSU and they were working in the states,” Slocum said. “I got the opportunity to come back here and work at the Department of Economic Development, the Workforce Commission and now I’m back at LSU.”
According to the Reilly Center’s website, its mission “is to generate thoughtful programs, dialogue and research about mass communication and its many faceted relationships with social, economic and political issues.”
From her perspective, Slocum said the Reilly Center is meant to be a connector and a promoter. This involves taking what is happening within the department surrounding public affairs, public policy and media, then broadcasting that to the world through a number of means.
Another use of the center is trying to connect the University talent with visionaries out in the world, Slocum said. This could involve those who work here in town or on another continent.
The final piece to the Reilly Center’s work is figuring out how the work being performed in the Manship School is of use to the state as well as the state government, Slocum said.
“The Reilly Center is about promoting what’s happening here, the work that’s happening here of our students, our staff and our faculty and connecting those same people with everybody else,” Slocum said.
For the future, Slocum sees thematic events happening which she hopes will connect the local community with other communities across the country. These themes deal with race, the changes of media, access to media, what stories are about and media literacy, among other ideas.
“In my mind, the world gave us a theme that can be pursued on so many different levels,” Slocum said.
In addition, Slocum hopes to connect faculty and students performing research to the public to bring awareness to the work taking place here.
Lastly, Slocum hopes to develop experiential opportunities for students, faculty and staff through networking and gaining a better understanding of what opportunities those people are interested in.
“Everything I have done professionally, since I finished as an undergrad here, really started and was inspired by the leadership opportunities I got to have here,” Slocum said. “This is my university love and home and it’s great to be back.”