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Our next honoree is the central character in a story of gratitude and admiration that threads back nearly 40 years and that loops far into the future as well.
In the late 1960s, a skinny kid from McAllen came to the university to study journalism. This self-confident young man believed in the power of journalism to create a fair and just world. One of his journalism professors – a cigar-chewing, grizzled city editor from the real world – saw a special blend of intelligence and passion in this student. And thus began a long and deep friendship between Professor Griff Singer and tonight’s third Jeffrey Award recipient, Mr. Joe Phillips.
While at the university, Joe worked at The Daily Texan in a variety of capacities, including the news, editorial, and sports departments. Somewhat later, he moved to Central America to learn Spanish and to work as a stringer for the Miami Herald and UPI. Later, he founded the San Jose News in Costa Rica and then later the Guatemala News. As a newsman, Joe was the ultimate can-do guy and he carried those characteristics into the next phase of his professional life, whereby he became a successful entrepreneur and businessman in South Texas.
Griff Singer’s tutelage made an indelible impression on Joe. To pay tribute to his mentor, Joe established the Griff Singer Professorship, a permanent endowment designed to enhance education in the area of reporting and editing. Joe’s gift ultimately brought Fluffy Cash to our faculty, who is now continuing Griff’s legacy of mentoring budding journalists and strengthening the College’s ties to the professional community.
Joe Phillips is a man of vision, generosity, and humility. Please join me in honoring a man whose love of journalism emanates from the head of a newsman and the heart of a committed citizen.