Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) named Jennifer Woodard as the new program coordinator for the school’s Social Justice Journalism concentration, according to the university’s online academic catalog.
Woodard (pictured above), a Ph.D. in mass communication from Indiana University-Bloomington and an MTSU alumna, is an expert in “diversity, equity and inclusion,” “race, class, gender and media issues,” and “mediated representations of women” according to her university faculty bio. She is also a faculty member of the school’s Women’s and Gender Studies department and “concentrated on scholarship that would enhance her ability to teach students the value of a diversified newsroom” while pursuing her Ph.D., according to her faculty bio.
“My goal is for students to graduate from our program with a respect for the nuances and complexities that come with all aspects of reporting,” Woodard told The Tennessee Star when asked what she wants students to get from the Social Justice Journalism concentration. “We want to give students the tools to figure out what the story is and then to report how it impacts our communities.”
However, Woodard did not answer The Star when asked what “social justice journalism” is and why she presumably believes it is important.
In a post from her account on X, formerly known as Twitter, Woodard publicly supported the so-called “Tennessee Three,” Tennessee State Representatives Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and Justin Jones (D-Nashville), when the three were threatened with expulsion from the State House after encouraging rioters who invaded the state Capitol building.
CALL FOR ACTION! — Let’s stand up for @VoteGloriaJ @brotherjones_ and @Justinjpearson as they fight Republican extremism. pic.twitter.com/wrycSNLsqy
— Tennessee Democratic Party (@tndp) April 3, 2023
“CALL FOR ACTION! — Let’s stand up for @VoteGloriaJ @brotherjones_ and @Justinjpearson as they fight Republican extremism,” read the post that Woodard shared from the Tennessee Democratic Party X account.
“Share this graphic as a social media post and raise awareness about the unfair treatment of our Representatives for standing up for our children against gun violence,” the post’s graphic read.
“It’s hard to imagine how a program like that isn’t going to push rhetoric on students that leans exclusively to the left of the political aisle,” MTSU student Nicholas Del Rosso told The Star when asked his thoughts on the program. “Sure, socioeconomic and sociopolitical disparities exist, but that’s inherent to any society. We can and should talk about those things, but I don’t imagine this program is going to do so in a transparent way.”
The Social Justice Journalism concentration teaches students to use journalism to address “sociopolitical, socioeconomic inequalities,” MTSU journalism professor Sanjay Asthana said in a video posted to the MTSU School of Journalism and Strategic Media’s Facebook page.
MTSU’s Social Justice Journalism concentration was previously coordinated by former Tennessean reporter Leon Alligood, The Star reported. Alligood retired from his position as associate professor and student newspaper faculty advisor at MTSU in December 2023.
Students can earn credit in the Social Justice Journalism concentration by taking courses like “Media, Entertainment, and Climate Change,” “Race, Gender, and Class in Media,” and “Crime, Gender, and Media.”
Tennessee’s “Divisive Concepts Act,” as it is commonly known, protects students from being “penalized, discriminated against, or [receiving] any adverse treatment” for refusing to voice support for ideas sometimes associated with social justice, like the concept that “meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.”
The law, nonetheless, does not prohibit such “divisive concepts” from being taught in college classrooms.
State law also requires that university employees who carry “diversity, equity, or inclusion” in their job titles to increase intellectual diversity and promote free expression and debate at their institutions, among other things. But the law’s provisions do not include employees who specialize in “diversity, equity, or inclusion” but do not carry those words in their job titles.
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Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X / Twitter.
Photo “Jennifer Woodward” by Middle Tennessee State University.
just marxism in a racial wrapper
its all marxism at the core.
Perhaps the TN General Assembly needs to see how the power of the purse can be used here.
The Ideology called Social Justce cab be traced back to that great Humanitarian from the Soviet Communist Russia – Josef Stalin.
Joe used it with great effect to keep Communism going.
To the students, your better off going into the trades.
mtsu needs better leaders
What a complete and utter failure.