Issue 10 H Fall 2008 HAVE A BLOG? We would like to include your blog in the BLOG ROLL of future issues. Learn more at the end of the Alumni Updates … page 8. tunnelvision A publication for alumni of student media at Vanderbilt University ALUMNI UPDATES GALORE! H Student Media Alumni updates begin on page 3… TUNNEL NEWS INTRODUCING… The Vanderbilt Political Review Nonpartisan political discus- sion is the focus of The Vanderbilt Political Review, a new VSC publi- cation that launched in the fall. Jadzia Butler, a junior in Arts and Science, started the politi- cal journal to feature academic Butler during an appearance on MSNBC. essays written by students, fac- ulty and alumni. Alumni con- tributors have included Sen. Lamar Alexander (B.A., 1962) and Willie Geist (B.A., 1997), co-host of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. Butler invites alumni to send questions, comments and submissions to vanderbiltpoliti- [email protected]. Olney speaks with a few members of The Vanderbilt Hustler sports staff in the Student Media Newsroom during a recent visit to campus. Vanderbilt Fashion Quarterly Students with a passion for fashion have a new outlet for expressing their interest in style Olney visits different campus and design. Vanderbilt Fashion Quarterly is a new publication by Tim Ghianni, Journalist-in-Residence for Vanderbilt Student Communications started by Lauren Elizabeth Junge, a sophomore in Arts and Vanderbilt’s increasing student diversity, “I knew when I was 15 that I wanted to ham sandwiches in the basement of Sarratt. Science who plans to create a its tolerance and outreach have made Buster be a sportswriter,” says Olney. “I thought it He graduated in the spring of 1988. VFQ website and publish a print- Olney much prouder of his university than would be a pretty cool way to make a liv- Now Olney is in the upper reaches of his ed version quarterly. The maga- when he was a student here. ing.” profession. After beginning at the Banner, he zine will include features, fashion When he came here from a Norman Even though he was a runner-up for the worked as a baseball beat writer for papers photography and columns such Rockwell-style New England upbringing, one scholarship, he came to Vanderbilt. His first in San Diego, Baltimore and New York City as “What’s Hot/What’s Not” and of the first things with which he had to cope, day as a student was the first time he saw before settling in as a writer and commenta- “Vandy Style.” Alumni interested in contributing to VFQ can email or at least to overcome in his naïve soul, was the campus. tor for ESPN. Junge at lauren.e.junge@vander- the hate and prejudice he encountered. He spent about six years here -- taking From that vantage, he’s been able to keep bilt.edu. Olney arrived on campus in the fall of leaves of absence to make money to fin- track of -- and be proud of -- the change at 1982, chasing his dream of becoming a ish his education. “I had friends in nine VU. He also makes regular visits to his alma GEIST sports writer after his interest was piqued graduating classes,” he says, explaining those mater and in mid-January he stopped by The Philosophy Journal when he tried to win the Grantland Rice friendships included the freshman, sopho- Hustler newsroom to entertain staffers about Scholarship. The school also was home of more and junior classes from when he was his adventures in the wide world of sports, Spencer Montalvo, a junior in another sports writing legend, Fred Russell, a senior. its highs and lows, and the journalism pro- Arts and Science, is working to launch Geist, a biannual publica- who went from playing baseball for the Much of his time here, Olney was a self- fession in general. tion of philosophical research, Commodores to becoming a nationally described “Tunnel Rat,” a sports writer, edi- After that visit, he sat down for a few min- academic critique and discussion. revered columnist based at the Nashville tor and humor columnist who buried him- The undergraduate journal of phi- Banner. self among the piles of papers and decaying see Olney, page 2 losophy will feature essays by stu- dents from academic institutions across the country and interviews conducted by members of Geist's editorial board. Destiny leads Etheridge to 'Breach' H H H by Tim Ghianni, Journalist-in-Residence for Vanderbilt Student Communications Eric Etheridge always has enjoyed talk- “I’m a sucker for talking to people and ing with people. That’s what led the 1979 getting their story,” he says. “When that story Index… Vanderbilt University English major to involves going to Mississippi and getting Alumni Column 2 achieve success as a writer and editor for the arrested and being thrown in Parchman, it’s Alumni Updates 3 likes of Rolling Stone, Harper’s, the New York even better.” Times and George, the latter co-founded by Parchman, or Parchman Farm, is the the late John F. Kennedy Jr. name and location of Mississippi’s most VANDERBILT STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. It’s also what led to Etheridge’s inter- infamous prison. est in the Freedom Riders, the brave souls And it was the destination for many of 1967 2009 who traveled from near and far into the the subjects Etheridge photographed and Deep South -- including his home state of interviewed for his book, Breach of Peace: Mississippi -- to make their cases for racial Celebrating 42 years in 2009 equality at great personal risk. see Etheridge, page 2 Etheridge 2 tunnel vision Olney, continued from page 1 bright lights an alumni column… utes to talk more personally about his Vanderbilt difficult.” experience, including his early dismay about rac- Things have evolved here over time. And while ism. following the successes of the football team, the “It has been so wonderful to see and feel the baseball team, the men’s and women’s basketball News and Personalities evolution of the school and know you can have teams, he’s also been able to keep track of that an African-American, like David Price, taken in evolution. by Mary Elson, Class of '74 the first round of the draft, from Vanderbilt. And He says one of the high points of recent years Pedro Alvarez,” he says. was looking across from Memorial Gym and see- I was a 20-something general assign- That is in stark contrast to his time here, when ing a banner proclaiming “Vanderbilt for Israel.” ment reporter at the Dallas Times Herald black faces were met if not with hatred then at He was so dumbfounded and excited he called his in 1977 when Tony Dorsett, who would least with apprehension and disregard. best friend from college who lives in Yonkers, N.Y. become one of the most decorated of “My time here was very difficult, because I came It was not a sign seen on the campus when he was all NFL players, came roaring into the from a small town in Vermont and had never been a student. Far from it. city as the newest member of the Dallas exposed to any kind of racism,” he says. His voice cracks when he compares the then to Cowboys. “And there was a lot of racism here at the time I the now. I was fortunate enough to be given was going to school. It was very difficult. “It’s very emotional for me, because it was really the assignment to do the color story on “When I was here, I knew African-American foot- hard for me back then. The things I saw were so Dorsett, visiting him and a half dozen of ball players who wore T-shirts that said ‘Vanderbilt confusing to me. I didn’t understand them.” his buddies at his new place in Dallas. Football’ all the time, because otherwise they Then he smiles. “Coming back year by year Mary Elson I remember he scoffed at the furniture would be stopped by security.” by year, I have seen the diversity in the campus that had been delivered, saying he had ordered it hastily and was He admits he had heard the “N” word used in change, and it has been good. I feel more strongly sending it back. The leather upholstery in his Cadillac convertible conversation in his mostly white farm town. And now about Vanderbilt than I did then.” outside the apartment glistened, I wrote, under “the rampaging while it never was a good word, “It was used in a Texas sun.” benign manner, like you were describing someone Tim Ghianni, who spent more than 33 years as a Dorsett was a large personality and gave me plenty of nice from New Hampshire.” writer, columnist and editor for various daily newspa- material for a page 1 Sunday story. It wasn’t until he got here and heard some pers, is working as VSC’s journalist-in-residence this As it happened, that same weekend, President Jimmy Carter’s over-fueled fellow dorm dweller holler it that he year, coaching students who work for The Hustler, younger brother, Billy, another outsized personality who had became upset. Versus and InsideVandy. been keeping his elder brother on edge with his highly publicized “It was said with such maliciousness. It was very antics, came reeling through the Dallas-Ft.Worth International airport on that production night. I was dispatched to the airport to chronicle the scene, dictating Etheridge, continued from page 1 a story on deadline and getting home, if I recall, sometime after 4 a.m.