Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI)

Theme – From College to Career: Building Skills, Connections, and Opportunities

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Savannah State University (SSU) department of journalism and mass communications will host its 75th annual Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI) February 19 – 20, 2025. For many years this conference has helped elementary, middle, high school, and college students acquire skills in communications. Registration is now open for the event. There is no charge to attend. This year’s theme is “From College to Career: Building Skills, Connections, and Opportunities.”

The keynote speakers for this year are Savannah State University alums Neisha Rogers and CJ Jackson AKA CJ the DJ. Rogers is an award-winning storyteller, media producer, and international speaker. Jackson is a veteran DJ with a background in radio, promotions, event planning/marketing, & music production and the Director of Programming at Cumulus Media. In addition to our keynotes, over 15 other media professionals will be attending and contributing to workshops.

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The department hosts the nationally known Southern Regional Press Institute (SRPI). Founded in 1951, it is the third-oldest scholastic journalism institute founded at a historically black college and university (HBCU) after the establishment of press associations at Florida A&M University (1950) and Lincoln University, Missouri (1949). Prior to integration, it played a significant role in the training and professional development of many of the country’s most renowned African-American journalists.

The two-day conference features keynote speakers, multiple concurrent workshops, contests, and a job fair. Through its workshops and speakers, SRPI provides training for elementary, middle, high school, and college students with an interest in mass media. The workshops are instructed by nationally respected journalists and media professionals.

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The institute was founded by the late Wilton C. Scott in 1950 to help high school and college students acquire skills in communications. Scott, a strong advocate of minority participation in the media, served as the director of public relations at Savannah State from 1947 until 1972. In his honor, Charles J. Elmore, Ph.D., institute director (1974-1975;1980-1986), established the Wilton C. Scott Award for Scholastic Journalism in 1981 at the 31st SRPI. It is awarded during the institute to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of scholastic journalism.

Elmore also established a second award, named in memory of Robert S. Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender. It is awarded to a communications professional annually.

In 1997, the institute director Novella Cross Holmes established a new award, the Louis R. Lautier Award for Career Achievement, which is annually awarded to an outstanding journalist, and in 2009, she established the Louis J. Corsetti Award for Excellence in Journalism.

In addition to workshops in photography, writing for multiple platforms, news, magazine and feature writing, new media, copyediting, headline writing, broadcasting, public relations, advertising and newspaper layout and design, all of which are instructed by media professionals from across the nation, the institute also includes the following components:

A publications contest for high school and college newspapers
A mini-documentary/video competition
Career preparation workshops for college juniors and seniors
The production of The Pacemaker, the official newspaper of the SRPI
A demonstration and display of new technology available within the industry
Round-table sessions for faculty advisors
A feature-writing contest/high school and college
A photography contest/high school and college
A web page design competition
A sports writing competition

The Institute was coordinated by the director of public relations for the university from 1950-1986. In June of 1986, the coordination of the institute was moved to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (then the School of Humanities and Social Sciences) under the aegis of the mass communications program, now the Department of Mass Communications.

Novella Cross Holmes, associate professor, directed the institute for 22 years; and Reginald Franklin, associate professor, served as director for 10 years. Jessica Sparks, assistant professor, was the director for the 69th year and Kareem McMichael, online content manager, is the director for the 70th.

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75th Southern Regional Press Institute

Theme – From College to Career: Building Skills, Connections, and Opportunities

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