Texas Student Media director resigns

After 15 years as the director of Texas Student Media, Kathy Lawrence announced her retirement in an e-mail to TSM staff and student managers on Thursday.

“I have some health issues, and this just seems to be the right time,” Lawrence told The Daily Texan.

TSM board member and clinical journalism professor Wanda Cash said the board will discuss possibly hiring an interim or replacement director during today’s board meeting. Cash and Juan Gonzalez, vice president for student affairs and Lawrence’s boss, did not know why Lawrence chose to resign.

Texas Student Media consists of The Daily Texan, KVRX 91.7FM, the Texas Travesty, The Cactus Yearbook and Texas Student Television.

Cash said all facets of TSM will continue despite the absence of a director. Until a decision is made, Lawrence’s position will be filled by a triumvirate of assistant directors, including Frank Serpas, Merry Tillman and Jalah Briedwell.

“We expect operations to continue as usual,” Cash said. “We have good leadership in place with our student and staff managers, and all systems are go.”

Gonzalez said student affairs assistant vice president Jennifer Hammat has assisted him with TSM matters in the past. Hammat may be asked to do so again in Lawrence’s absence, he said.

“I may ask her to step up in a sort of interim role,” Gonzalez said. “She may be helping out a little more on a very short term basis,”

Gonzalez said he hopes to open up conversations with the TSM board concerning a replacement early next week.

During her time as TSM director, Lawrence fought for The Daily Texan to not come under prior review by the newspaper’s adviser and oversaw outsourcing printing operations to the Austin American-Statesman. Under prior review, Richard Finnell, The Daily Texan’s adviser, read all stories before they were published.

“The greatest achievement of my career was the elimination of prior review,” Lawrence said. “When I got here, I had no idea that practice was still going on at the University of Texas. I had no idea it was going to take 12 years to eliminate, and I was completely elated when I found out the Board eliminated it.”

Lawrence was responsible for making sure all the students involved with TSM had the resources they needed.

“On a day to day basis, my job probably sounds pretty damn boring,” Lawrence said. “But every time I interacted with a student, I felt like my job was completely rewarding.”

Lawrence also had an active role in last year’s renovation and renaming of the William Randolph Hearst building, formerly the Texas Student Media Building. Before the $750,000 donation from the Hearst Foundation in 2008, the TSM building had not been renovated since 1972.

“She helped us make significant progress with the renaming of the Hearst building,” Gonzalez said. “She made plans and moved it forward.”

Although Lawrence was not involved in the day-to-day operation of The Daily Texan, editor-in-chief Jillian Sheridan said the lack of a director was disconcerting.

“Especially because the media industry as a whole is so fragile right now, to be without a director makes me a little nervous,” Sheridan said.

For now, Lawrence said she will continue teaching part time at the University of Pheonix Online and will look for more job opportunities in the future.

“I really don’t feel ready to put up my feet and watch soap operas all day,” Lawrence said.