Serbino Sandifer-Walker, journalism professor and assistant dean of the Texas Southern University School of Communications, has been a mainstay in Houston’s media scene for years, with her former students currently serving in all capacities of media, journalism and beyond, locally, nationally and globally.
The Defender spoke with Sandifer-Walker about what she describes as a “re-imagining” of TSU’s School of Communications and the impact she continues have upon the students she educates.
DEFENDER: What does a re-imagined School of Communications look like?
SANDIFER-WALKER: We’re looking at amping up our curriculum to represent today and the future and beyond. Those are the kinds of things that we’re working on to make the curriculum meet the needs of our urban community. But we aren’t limited to just urban. We see ourselves as a global program that can prepare people to go anywhere in the world. Our curriculum is going to reflect that international flare, but it’s still a Houston institution that’s concerned about the urban community… We’re looking at a multicultural multimedia curriculum that embraces AI and multimedia journalism.
DEFENDER: How will this impact Houston and beyond?
SANDIFER-WALKER: Our goal is to really be those great storytellers, to understand historical legacies and to be able to dig deeper into the Houston community or the Nigerian community or the South African community, or any community that we’re in. To be able to tell those authentic stories that you don’t historically hear; that major media may not cover or don’t even know exist. We do that by, again, writing a curriculum that reflects innovation, multiculturalism, transformation, all those things that we’re looking at right now.
DEFENDER: Can you speak to what you feel in that part of your work?
SANDIFER-WALKER: That’s one of my great joys, to be able to train generations of students to be able to go out and tell our stories. We have so many bright young people who come on our campus who may not even have the confidence to understand what they’re capable of doing. We take those students to help them understand this is what you are capable of doing. And here at Texas Southern University, we believe in you. For me, I’m just persistent; like that pit bull. When I believe in something, I go full throttle, wholehearted, you know, to ensure your success, even if that means that I have to sit down with you for hours and hours and hours on end to be able to help you to become that person we envision together you can become.
DEFENDER: Where can we find your former students applying their trade?
SANDIFER-WALKER: They’re all over the world right now. And it’s because I saw a deficit out in the field, and I wanted people to be able to know that from an HBCU, from Texas Southern University, great people are here, and they can come and they can help to make your community better with their skillsets. Many of them have gone into journalism, but many of them have gone into education—college professors now. But they are always there to tell these great stories. So, I’m very humble when people say, “You’ve impacted me. You’ve made a difference.” I’m very humbled by that and grateful that I’ve been able to have a positive impact.
DEFENDER: What’s key for current students to become the next generation’s great journalists?
SANDIFER-WALKER: They can be these great storytellers. They can go on to earn master’s degrees, doctorate degrees, whatever it is. But the most important thing, I want them to be grounded in understanding Black history, understanding Black people, understanding the underserved, and being able to have the tools to research and uncover those great stories about those unheard, untold, underserved communities throughout the United States. That’s what I do. I get great joy from doing that. I have a family, all of my brothers and my sister, we’re all invested in understanding who we are, whose we are, as Black people, and how we can make a difference.
DEFENDER: Are there any School of Communications projects that have you excited?
SANDIFER-WALKER: There’s so many. So, super proud of this project we started with KPRC Channel 2 here in Houston. Since 2021, we’ve taken over telling the stories of Houston’s Black community in February. [Legendary KPRC journalist] Khambrel Marshall actually came to me and he said, “I think you would have a great appreciation for this.” So, once he told me about it’s like, “Okay; I got this .” And we just started digging deeper and telling these unique stories that people may have told, but it was some missing aspect of it that wasn’t told. For example, this year, we told the story about this sculpture that’s on Texas Southern University’s campus. It’s called “The African Queen Mother.” A lot of people pass it every single day since it’s right in front of TSU’s MLK building. It’s in this majestic fountain where all this water sort of comes out, but no one ever paid attention to “What is it?” It was done by a great art professor who actually had been at TSU for more than 30 years; Carol Sims. He was just a great sculptor. We dug deeper to find out more about him, more about his work, the whole idea behind this sculpture. And it was just unbelievable the information we were able to uncover that had never really been told. This African Queen Mother sculpture depicts a resilient woman surrounded by water, with her arms stretched into the air. It symbolizes children, it symbolizes life and it symbolizes all of these amazing things about Black people, [and] no one really had told that story.
DEFENDER: Any other special stories we should look out for?
SANDIFER-WALKER: We even told a story about this man who is an outdoorsman, who is pushing to bring diversity into the outdoors community. So, he’s a fisherman, out there on the waterways, and he’s trying to open it up to Black people more, to have more inclusion. So, the student who actually told that story is Karina Hollingsworth. And Karina Hollingsworth is now working at a station in Abilene. And, she’s doing a wonderful job there, working as a broadcast journalist. But, we trained them to be actually multimedia journalists. It’s just so many different things, so many different students I’ve come into contact with. And I guess overall, I would say I’m just grateful, I’m humbled and honored to be able to work with young people and help to guide them and show them that they can do and be anything they want to.
