By Beth Dedman B.A. ’20, Digital Media Specialist

Gerald Jordan points to his name on Senior Walk

His name is on Senior Walk.

Associate Professor Gerald Jordan graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1970 with a degree in journalism and earned his master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University in 1971. He then worked 25 years for metropolitan daily newspapers before joining the faculty of the Lemke Department of Journalism in 1995, although he continued to work summers as an editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer for the next 15 years.

“The greatest lesson I have learned is one that I am still learning and that is to listen,” Jordan said. “Generations change and you have to be prepared to listen. You need to understand that what meant something to students in the class of ‘96 doesn’t resonate with the class of 2006 or the class of 2016. Things change. What I admire of the rising class of 2022 is that they are inventing things. They are starting information services and building websites and providing content —things I thought my teeth would fall out before I acknowledged.”

Jordan has served as faculty adviser to The Arkansas Traveler and The Razorback. He added his newsroom discipline to his presentation of journalism courses in the Lemke Digital Media Lab and History of the Black Press, a course he created with Dr. Patsy G. Watkins, which is cross-listed with the Department of African and African-American Studies.

“The way I have tried to present the course—and I give credit to Patsy for the direction of the course—is to get students to understand that there is a role for the historic Black press, and it continues and it’s important to have those voices heard in the historic Black press and the mainstream media,” he said. “If you don’t have a newsroom that is diverse, equitable and inclusive, you are missing voices.”

In 2010, he received the U of A’s Silas Hunt Legacy Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee. Jordan was awarded the Arkansas Press Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016, and received the 2017 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship, presented by the American Society of News Editors.

Jordan has worked with four chancellors to recruit, retain and support talented African American and other minority students, staff and faculty. He is the first African American to serve as president of the Arkansas Alumni Association Board of Directors and he is the founding leader of two alumni societies for U of A graduates.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION?

For so long, I don’t remember. When I graduated, I did a story for the magazine and received a plaque, a shield and a membership to the alumni association. I can’t remember when I went from lapsed to annual to lifetime, but sometime over the last 30 years. It might have been when Clinton was running, and I felt I needed to connect to home.

WHAT DOES MEMBERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?

The U of A is a really big school but what we do through the Alumni Association keeps it small. Whether it’s by class or society or the activities you were involved in while you were here, those things endure and connect us and make us Arkansas.

DID YOU HAVE A MENTOR, CLASS OR ACTIVITY THAT ENHANCED YOUR CAMPUS EXPERIENCE?

It started off with Dr. Patsy Watkins and Rory Reid, the person I had the extreme good fortune of following here. He and I talked about so much stuff. So many I’ve met across campus have been advisors, mentors and counselors. People have embraced me. I didn’t get here as a doctorate. I didn’t come from the academy; I came from the newsroom. The transition was made smooth by a lot of people who embraced me, including a lot of my faculty colleagues.

WHICH MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS DO YOU VALUE MOST?

The communication. They keep me well-connected to what’s going on. When I open my newsletter or email. Activities. They are great at activities. Maybe in retirement I will be able to take a cruise or a train ride across the Rockies like that. I participated in the game day tailgate parties. It’s a great way to come in and come to campus, it’s a lot of fun. It’s easily a bargain times a bargain.

Jordan plans to retire at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

“It’s been a hell of a ride,” he said. “I’m glad to have had the opportunity.”