Van Jones inspires Communications students

“It’s good to be home,” began guest speaker Van Jones in his speech to the UTM Department of Communications during the department’s annual banquet yesterday.

The 1990 alumnus returned after many years of being out in the world, graduating Yale Law School; becoming a special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality; becoming a best-selling author; and now, being a host of CNN’s “Crossfire.”

Jones began his speech to current UTM Communications students by honoring his professor and adviser while at UTM, “Coach Ogg,” Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Jerald Ogg.

“If you’ve got one phone call and your life is on the line, this is the man to call,” Jones said of Ogg.

Jones’ lecture was a summary of the successes he found because of UTM.

“I want to tell you my whole life story, not to brag, but just to give you a sense of what’s available to you because you’re here [at UTM]. … I can say it with the conviction that comes with having lived it: You can get anywhere you want to in this world from UT Martin,” Jones said.

Jones talked about how he began at UTM and considered transferring to Vanderbilt his sophomore year, but a conversation with Ogg changed his mind.

“It was the most important conversation of my life,” Jones said.

Ogg told Jones that he could go to Vanderbilt if he wanted to, but if he stayed in the UTM Communications Department and did the work put before him, applying himself and utilizing the team of professors in the department, he could go anywhere he wanted beyond graduation.

“I guarantee you that if you stay, you’ll leave with an education that will put you at the front of the pack any place else you go,” Ogg told Jones as a sophomore.

In his advice to students, Jones mentioned two elements that a student needs to succeed.

“It does not matter how low down you start, only two things matter: How strong is your springboard and how hard do you hit it,” Jones said.

Jones said that his Communications professors at UTM put that strong springboard under him, which helped launch him to success.

“What I learned here I use every single day of my life,” Jones said.

Jones said that the knowledge he gained at UTM helped him go to Yale Law School immediately after leaving UTM and graduate top of his class.

“I got in my car, got on I40, drove over the Appalachian Mountains, hit the ocean, took a left, drove up that eastern seaboard and got out of my car at Yale Law School – right out of this department,” Jones said.

“I started outperforming people who had been prepared their whole life to be there.”

Jones advised students on several lessons he had acquired while out in the world, one of which was not underestimating the power of simplicity and clear communication.

“Try to write for and communicate to … ordinary people. Because we believe in democracy in this country, and people have got to be able to get the facts and understand them to make good, intelligent decisions,” Jones said.

Jones said he already understood this principle as he was going into Yale, because he did it every day as a student at UTM.

“Even if someone gave me something complicated, I knew how to get my head around it. I would go to the library and read but I would also go around and interview the students who seemed like they knew more than I did. And I didn’t mind looking stupid, because as a Communications major, you would rather look stupid and then be able to write a smart story, than be sitting up there trying to be so impressive and have your editor tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jones said.

“I don’t care what profession you are going into, if you can take a complicated set of facts and break it down and explain it to your mama, explain it to your neighbor, be able to go in any Laundromat, if you can do that, you are better than 95 percent of people in your profession.”

Not only did Jones emphasize clear communication as a key to being successful, but he also emphasized the importance of work ethic.

“Nobody’s going to give you anything. You’re going to have to work circles around the people around you. But we learned that here [at UTM],” Jones said.

Jones said that he learned work ethic through being Executive Editor of The Pacer, which Ogg was adviser of at that time.

“Coach wanted us to put out a world-class paper that could compete with any paper in the country,” Jones said.

“We had a work ethic. If it was 3 in the morning and it wasn’t right, guess what? It wasn’t right. … We had to be [at the printer] at 7 a.m. There were nights that we were up until 6 a.m. getting it right,” Jones said.

Not only did The Pacer and the UTM Department of Communications teach him work ethic, but it also taught him to take pride in his work and value ordinary, hardworking people.

“We had pride in what we were doing. They don’t teach that everywhere. They teach [being] slick. They don’t teach pride; they don’t teach work; they don’t teach valuing ordinary people and their ability to understand and the genius of ordinary folk and the importance of giving them something,” Jones said.

“That’s what you learn in this department. … You’re going to get some values here that will put you in good standing.”

Later that day, Jones also participated in a panel on investigative journalism sponsored by the UTM Student Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and was awarded with the Department of Communications Distinguished Alumni Award.