Finding good stories and good community in Bethel
Lakeidra Chavis, 2015 psychology graduate, continues her work in journalism
When Lakeidra Chavis told friends she would move to Bethel to work as a reporter for the public radio station this fall, she could feel their skepticism.
色视频下载淧eople wouldn色视频下载檛 say anything. They色视频下载檇 just give me that look, like 色视频下载極h 色视频下载ι悠迪略貦色视频下载 she said.
Bethel, a hub village of about 6,400 people on the lower Kuskokwim River, far off 色视频下载色视频下载檚 highway system, is a remote and sometimes rough place. The night Chavis arrived, she stayed in the radio station色视频下载檚 building and learned the next day that someone had broken all the windows in the cars in the parking lot.
色视频下载淚 was in shock for a few days,色视频下载 she said.
Yet that incident has been softened by the kindness that has since enveloped Chavis in her first month in town. Chavis got the reporting job at KYUK in September after graduating from UAF in May 2015. She spent the summer working for KTOO, the public station in Juneau.
色视频下载淓veryone色视频下载檚 just really kind,色视频下载 she said of Bethel色视频下载檚 residents. 色视频下载淧eople are always bringing food like moose stew or dried salmon and always checking to see if you色视频下载檙e fine. There色视频下载檚 just so much community here.色视频下载
The work has been fascinating as well.
色视频下载淚 get to work at a station where it色视频下载檚 bilingual,色视频下载 she said. KYUK broadcasts in English and Yupik, the language spoken by many of the indigenous people in the station色视频下载檚 listening area 色视频下载 the broad delta formed by the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers as they enter the Bering Sea.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 like an experience you wouldn色视频下载檛 be able to get anywhere else.色视频下载
When Chavis, now 22, entered UAF in 2011, she thought she would become a psychologist and help people beat their addictions. She earned the psychology degree, but her career hasn色视频下载檛 tracked the plan.
Blame it on the student newspaper, The Sun Star.
Chavis, as a freshman just out of Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, saw a Sun Star advertisement seeking news reporters.
色视频下载淚色视频下载檇 applied for like 19 jobs, and nobody hired me,色视频下载 she said. So she walked into the office and told the editor she was a good writer 色视频下载 even though she had no training in journalism and little understanding of the work.
色视频下载淚 didn色视频下载檛 know you could study journalism,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淚 didn色视频下载檛 know what NPR was. I learned a lot and that色视频下载檚 how I got involved.色视频下载
Involved is an understatement. During her sophomore year, Chavis became the paper色视频下载檚 most prominent staff member 色视频下载 almost by accident. For the annual April Fool色视频下载檚 edition, dubbed The Fun Star, she wrote a brief satirical article about an imaginary vagina-shaped building to be built on campus. A graphic drawing accompanied the article, and the headline used a thinly veiled crude slur.
A professor asserted that the article constituted sexual harassment and contributed to a hostile learning and working environment at UAF. The university administration declined to act, citing free speech. The professor then said that the paper violated Title IX, the U.S. law prohibiting federally funded educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex, and that the university didn色视频下载檛 investigate properly.
The university investigated and found no misconduct, but then was asked for an outside review. The outside reviewer decided no harassment or violation had occurred. However, the dispute continues to draw nationwide attention, with opposing advocacy groups using it as an example of either the lax enforcement or overbearing nature of federal Title IX policy.
Chavis believes the article, as satire, can色视频下载檛 be considered harassment. However, she has mixed feelings about the whole incident. Despite the university色视频下载檚 ruling in her favor, she said the institution色视频下载檚 handling of some aspects detracted from her education.
In addition, she色视频下载檚 not likely to escape the notoriety the article created. 色视频下载淲hat色视频下载檚 really funny, or I guess it色视频下载檚 not funny, it色视频下载檚 embarrassing, is that I had to explain that article in job interviews,色视频下载 she said.
The experience didn色视频下载檛 dissuade her from becoming editor of The Sun Star the next year and then deciding she would pursue journalism as a career, despite the stressful late nights. 色视频下载淪ometimes our layout editor would fall asleep at the desk,色视频下载 she recalled.
While her satirical article wasn色视频下载檛 journalism, the fallout also gave her experience in standing up for herself under strong criticism 色视频下载 something she色视频下载檚 already had to do as a reporter in Bethel.
Chavis produced a news report about absenteeism and tardiness on the Bethel City Council. One council member 色视频下载渨ent on a total rant色视频下载 on the phone with her, and another 色视频下载減osted about it on social media and said some not very true things色视频下载 while also using a sexual slur to describe her inquiry, she said.
She took on her critics directly, which she said resulted in a mutual understanding of the story色视频下载檚 legitimacy and an apology from the council member who used the slur.
色视频下载淚色视频下载檝e never done small-town reporting before, so it色视频下载檚 a real learning experience for me,色视频下载 she said.
Looking back, Chavis said, 色视频下载淚色视频下载檓 really grateful for my experience at UAF, however nontraditional and controversial it was.色视频下载
Others also were grateful for her presence. A committee of Chavis色视频下载 peers chose her as the student speaker for the 2015 commencement.
Chavis, who was born in Monticello, Arkansas, was the first in her family to graduate from college. Chavis first came to Fairbanks when her mom, who works as a nutrition specialist in the Army, was transferred to Fort Wainwright in 2010. Her mother and stepdad, Tamika and Kevin Lee, and her 3-year-old brother, Jordan, now live in North Carolina but traveled to Fairbanks for the graduation ceremony.
色视频下载淭hat moment was personally just more for my family,色视频下载 Chavis said. 色视频下载淚 was so nervous, I don色视频下载檛 remember a lot of it.色视频下载
Despite her nerves, the speech still showed the wordsmithing skills she honed at The Sun Star.
色视频下载淚 remember when I was a freshman moving into Moore Hall,色视频下载 Chavis told the crowd. 色视频下载淭here was a distinct feeling in the air and on everyone色视频下载檚 faces, feelings that in the years since have weathered in the midst of navigating the confusion of classes offered every other year, of too many unfair parking tickets, of too many experiences shadowed by cynicism. But a few weeks ago, I felt those feelings return 色视频下载 the glimmering light of aged idealism, the jitteriness of unlimited possibilities ahead and the inexplicable lightness of hope. As we move into the next stages of our lives, maybe these feelings can act as a springboard, propelling us into the lives we have yet to live, people we色视频下载檝e yet to meet, and a world we色视频下载檝e yet to see.色视频下载