Courtesy of Nazara Henry
Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism and Graphic Design gave a Thank You reception for the Kinsey Collection Thursday evening in honor and thanks to the Kinsey family, Tallahassee Democrat and student writers.
Special guests included Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, Kinsey Collection student writers, executive editor at Capital Outlook Angeline Taylor and the Tallahassee Democrat editorial staff: publisher Skip Foster, editor William Hatfield and senior writer Byron Dobson.
The students presented gifts to the guests on behalf of SJGC Dean Kimbrough and FAMU President Elmira Mangum. In turn, the Kinsey family presented the students with their own Kinsey Collection book.
TyLisa Johnson, third-year broadcast journalism student from Wilmington, Del. and writer of multiple stories for the Kinsey collection said she felt honored to have been given the opportunity to be published in the Tallahassee Democrat.
“I feel so blessed to be published in the Tallahassee Democrat and still be a student. I feel so blessed that (the) dean can make this sort of connection with you all. I just want to say thank you all so much for giving me the opportunity to expand myself,” Johnson said.
Johnson was not the only person in the room with sincere gratitude for the experience. Skip Foster was also grateful and shares that readers actually benefit and are being drawn into the collection.
“Our readers have benefited tremendously. People have noticed and consumed it. We’ve heard from people of all walks of life how interested they are in this content and this amazing collection,” Foster said.
Foster shared the content has been a topic in the newsroom and thanks the writers and editor.
Hatfield agreed.
“The stuff you all have been sending is great content and great storytelling. Each and every one of the pieces you all have submitted has pulled people into the collection and brought people to the exhibit,” Hatfield said.
The reception was followed by a tour of the Kinsey Collection in Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery and book signing of “Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey–Where Art and History Intersect.”
It seems like this may be the beginning of a new eternal connection at FAMU. Bernard Kinsey has hopes of maintaining the relationships he’s built with FAMU.
“I hope this is the beginning of further partnerships to come. I cannot thank you all enough. The most special place for us is Florida A&M University,” Kinsey said.
Kimbrough was thrilled of the turnout.
“I was happy that we had a great reception. The most important thing is that we honor the students,” Kimbrough said. “We particularly honored students that wrote articles about the Kinsey collection that were published in the Democrat.”
She hopes that FAMU will have a chance to annually publish articles in the Tallahassee Democrat but she wants everyone to remember to just simply give thanks.
“That’s one lesson I want all of us to remember; just simply say thank you,” Kimbrough said.