Caesar Andrews: Exemplifying Passion and Humanity in Journalism, Education
By Ariel Van Cleve
Overseeing the work of reporters as they exposed the scandals of Detroit’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, was both “exhilarating” and “sad” for Caesar Andrews — a seasoned reporter, editor, and educator. This response to one of the most prominent moments of his career demonstrates his passion for the mission of journalism and his characteristic empathy for those around him.
Sitting outside the Multicultural Center at the University of Nevada, Reno, the professor reminisced on his career journey.
Inspired to pursue a degree in journalism at Grambling State University through his love of writing, Andrews fondly recalled the opportunities he received to cover stories on prominent figures including football coaching star Eddie Robinson and the famed Jessie Jackson. However, he also recalled his early experience challenging power.
“I covered issues that . . . the administration would prefer the student newspaper not cover,” Andrews related.
All such work was exciting, according to Andrews; and, although he originally did not intend be a career journalist, he went to work as a reporter for the Florida-based newspaper Today after graduation, covering local issues.
“. . . I started to kind of appreciate doing what a journalist does,” he asserted. “I really just enjoyed it a lot — kinda fell in love with it, actually,” he later added.
Consequently, and with ample opportunities for career advancement also encouraging him onward, he remained in his profession for more than two decades before coming to be an editor at the Detroit Free Press. It was in this role that he then became involved with the Kilpatrick coverage.
He declared, “. . . it was . . . exhilarating, on the one hand, because you’re doing exactly what journalism is supposed to do. Journalism is supposed to shed light on things that people wish the public didn’t know.” However, on a human level, Andrews lamented the mayor’s “squandering of talent.”
Such personal consideration for others is natural to Andrews. Having since become a professor at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, he also expressed his care for students when he identified watching student growth to be a particular pleasure of his. “Here’s what I really love,” he emphasized. “I love to see a student who’s at a certain spot — who has the intelligence but maybe missed some fundamentals because K-12 wasn’t quite right — and then they come here; and they grow; and they develop; and they mature.”
Looking to the future, Andrews says he just wants to contribute. “. . . my goal is to show up, and for whatever environment I am in, contribute to it — contribute something positive. What that is will depend. It might be an idea. It might be energy. It might be supporting others — but to be in a situation where . . . I can contribute to the good.”
The final thoughts he shared fell in accord with these aims; for he communicated his desire to encourage students and insisted on their value to the journalistic profession. “The more the reality of problems in media are thought about,” insisted the professor, “the more we need new and fresh troops — students and the next generation — to help figure it out.”
