In March of 2017, the School of Communications had the opportunity to host Morgan State University professor LaMonte Summers. Professor Summers has been a Media Ethics and Law professor at the university’s School of Global Journalism & Communication for over 13 years.
Summers says that one of his favorite classes is Media Ethics and Law, as he enjoys teaching students about the First Amendment and the issues and policies that coincide with it in communications. “I am passionate about the values that underlie the First Amendment and how they are interpreted,” said Summers. “When studying it with students, I try to look at situations that involve people from other cultures and those who live outside of the United States.”
During his visit, Summers was able to visit various communications classes as well as each of the student labs.
“The resources you have here are just phenomenal,” said Summers. “I’ve been to the eye tracking, advertising, and public relations labs. I was also able to witness the newscast at noon. It was great to see the preparation and excitement of the students.”
In talking about his experience in Utah, Professor Summers stated that he wanted to be in an environment that looked at diversity in a different way, not only from a religious standpoint but from a geographical standpoint where the people come from different cultures and parts of the world. Coming from Morgan University, a predominantly African American school, Professor Summers had a number of great insights as to how Morgan Students and BYU students could benefit from interacting with one another.
“Many Morgan students are first-generation college students. They bring a lot of determination, interest, curiosity, and a thirst for knowledge. They want to learn, grow and succeed. Many of them come from backgrounds where their college preparations have been somewhat lacking. You will see students who are hard-working and highly motivated. It can be beneficial for BYU students to interact with Morgan students who bring those characteristics. These experiences can help to broaden perspectives on those from different cultures and backgrounds,” Summers said.
Summers said that he enjoyed his visit and commented that BYU is a “high quality, first rate, first class institution with great facilities. The people are very warm, generous and kind. Everyone is so nice.” Professor Summers is enthusiastic about communications and the faculty connections being made between Morgan State and BYU. He is also hopeful and excited about the kinds of connections that can be built between students in the near future.