These Students Are Primed for Convention

By Bravetta Hassell
Black College Wire

The convening of more than 7,000 journalists of color in Washington, D.C., at the Unity convention this week will give the term “media event” a whole new meaning, especially for a pair of students trying to find their way in the news business.

Among the throng at the Washington Convention Center will be Darnell Mayberry, 21, a recent graduate of Norfolk State University, and Erin Hill, 21, a senior at Hampton University.

Mayberry, who had initially planned to attend Unity in hopes of finding a job, was offered a full-time position as a sports reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio this fall, but said he still looks forward to everything the conference has to offer. At the end of last week, Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, accepted an invitation to speak before Unity attendees. President Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell are also scheduled to address the convention.

Darnell Mayberry

“That’s an added incentive for going,” Mayberry said. The new graduate was a mass communications major with an emphasis in general broadcast who in his freshman year had hopes of becoming a sports anchor. But after his first byline, Mayberry said he was “hooked” by news writing.

Hill was blunt when asked why she made the trip to D.C. from her internship at the Detroit Free Press. “I’ll put it like this,” she said. “I graduate in May 2005, and I need a job.”

Hill is looking to make as many contacts as possible. She is working on the student project Unity News, the convention newspaper. But she also has brought with her 100 copies of her clip packet -- with resume included, business cards, her portfolio and 10 to 12 pairs of shoes.

Erin Hill

Hill’s and Mayberry’s plans for Unity represent those of many: To see, to listen, to learn, to fine-tune their work; to network, to connect, and if necessary, to commiserate.

Bravetta Hassell is a student at Hampton University.

Posted Aug. 3, 2004