I thought I had posted this over @ DST, since that was where the initial thread was started. Maybe there were some technical difficulties
, but oh well...
This was an email sent out to Alumni. It's imperative that both sides of the story are represented. One cannot always believe what they read or see.
We're sure you are aware of the many negative things that are being reported about GSU. There was a report that the school was closing, which is a lie. Brett Martel, of the Associated Press asked for and was granted an interview by Ms. Vickie Jackson of the school's Office of Communications and Public Affairs. Mr. Martel indicated that he wanted to interview students, faculty and other staff members to determine their feelings regarding the accreditation issue. Instead of writing the article he said he would write, Mr. Martel wrote a misleading story filled with lies. The Tom Joyner Morning Show took Mr. Martel's article off the AP wire and reported it as if was fact. Needless to say, this article and the reporting of it in the news media has caused great harm to the school.
We need your help. We are asking all GSU alumnus to write letters expressing your outrage at the lies printed about OUR SCHOOL. We are attaching a sample letter with details of Mr. Martel's story for your use as you write your letters. According to Mr. Herbert Simmons of GSU's Office of Alumni Affairs, we should write the letters before August 20, 2002. Please, please write letters to the Editor of the Associated Press in New Orleans and to the Tom Joyner Show. We do not have an address for the Tom Joyner Show, however, you can email him if you pull up his website on the internet. Search for: The Tom Joyner Show. This is our school. We can not allow anyone to discredit it, discount it's value to the Black community, dismiss it's rich history and write lies about Grambling State University without fear of retalitation from us. None of us want to be graduates of a school which no longer exists. If we don't fight this, there is a real possibility that this could happen given the negative publicity the school is receiving at this time. We want to see GSU remain as it is and not a two-year school or a school that is a part of the university system of Louisiana, but, no longer Grambling State University. WE MUST SHOW BRETT MARTEL THAT GRAMBLING'S ALUMNUS CARES DEEPLY FOR OUR SCHOOL AND WE RESENT HIS DEPICTION OF OUR SCHOOL IN HIS ARTICLE. We're counting on you.