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| Dr. Felicia McGhee |
I graduated with Dr. McGhee in 1988. Back then, we were on
two separate roads, and destinations. I was always feisty and ready to
"get down". Felicia was conservative, fun and disciplined. She was in
the marching band, had tons of friends and was always on the honor roll. Even
then, she was an over achiever. Striving in the steps of her parents, two
educators in the city of Pontiac, she tried her best to do well
academically. They had instilled in her
the character and zeal to succeed and be a whoever she wanted to be, and she
took it very seriously. It is their influence that helped her become the woman
she is today, and that is a true testament of their commitment to education.
Felicia has a Bachelor's in Communication from the University of Michigan, a
Master's in Public Administration and a Doctorate of Philosophy, with a concentration
in Communication and Information Science, from the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville.
Felicia's parents were not only educators in Pontiac but had
become administrators in the system. They moved up from the ranks of teachers,
to principals of the local high schools. They served the school district during
the same years and retired together and moved to Alabama. Her mother, Essie
McGhee, was the head principal at Pontiac Northern (currently the only high
school in Pontiac, now known as Pontiac High), and was the first black female of
a high school in Pontiac, which is now the only high school in Pontiac. Her
father, Thomas McGhee, was the athletics director at the time we attended. He
would later become an assistant principal at Central. Both her parents have
higher degrees. Her mother, like Felicia, has a doctorate degree.
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Felicia
wanted to become a television news reporter.
Her first on-air job was at WQBH radio station in Detroit. While working
at the radio station, she decided to take a leap of faith. She decided she was going to move to
Montgomery without a job. She went to her parents and told them that she was moving
to Alabama. While there, she would pursue a non-existing news career and sell
shoes, until she got her big break. Two weeks before the big move, the news
director at the ABC affiliate in Montgomery called her and Felicia got her big
break! She was offered the job as a
meteorologist She knew absolutely nothing about meteorology, but Felicia
convinced the woman on the phone that she was able to do the job. She went to
the Pontiac library and studied all about meteorology. One the first of her job
as a meteorologist the reporter quit, so she became a reporter and never had to
do the weather! That's where her career took off, with one of several
happenstances that occurred.
After three years she
left that position, and went to Mississippi for a while to work at the ABC
affiliate there, WTOK. There she worked as a morning show anchor. She realized
that she was not a morning person, and didn’t like waking up at 2:30am to go to
work. She then went to the ABC affiliate in Chattanooga, WTVC. She began teaching at the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1999. She
received her master's while teaching at the University of Tennessee-
Chattanooga. In the midst of all of these moves and career highs and lows, she
got engaged. She married and has one child, a boy named Thomas. Although, her
marriage ended, she had the joy of being a mother and the life-long gift of
Thomas.
When Thomas turned two, he had his immunizations for school.
Shortly after getting those shots, he began having seizures. After one seizure,
Thomas could not speak at all. With nothing left to do, they learned sign
language in order to communicate. One day, while at school, his teacher let him
out on a cold day. Despite Felicia's stark warning that her son was not to be
allowed to go outside if the temperature dropped below 40 degrees. That December, the teacher forgot about this
directive and let him go outside when it was 19 degrees. As a result, Thomas
had a seizure, but something extraordinary happened, when he came to he was
speaking in full sentences, again. Lovingly, Felicia admits that he hasn't
stopped talking since that day.
That tough tragedy is only one of three she had to endure in
her lifetime. She not only had to deal with Thomas' seizures, but other life
changing tragedies. In 2011, she lost her younger brother, Thomas Jr. in an
automobile accident. The following year, she lost her life-long best friend,
Natalie Lyon. Dealing with the grief, she began to evaluate her marriage,
career and how she saw life, and she made some hard choices. Natalie is
pictured in the collage below with the U of M frame. Thomas Jr. is pictured in
the, "McGhee Family" collage above, photographed with Felicia, on the
upper left side.
As an instructor and anchorwoman, she was always sought after
for the position. Not trusting her worth, she would question her supervisor's
seriousness. She hasn't paid for school since her undergraduate degree, because
she always took a chance on who and what she was. Twice she was challenged to
make a list of demands, and she made a list. She thought up the most
astronomical demands she could think of. To get her doctoral degree she had to
drive an hour and 45 minutes one way, so she asked for gas money. She wanted a three-year
sabbatical with pay, so she could go to school. Also, on that list she also
asked for free daycare for Thomas and a hefty bonus. She got everything, but
the free daycare! She created yet another list to acquire her most recent
position of department head (the first black female of an academic unit) at the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
This week, is Felicia's first week as head of the
Communication Department at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. She has
been there her entire teaching career and is excelling in her field. Since
retiring from the media, she has done a documentary on the desegregation of the
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and plans to write a book soon. It will
focus on how the media framing of Black men in shootings by the police. It's
been all worth it. The chances she took, the driving an hour and forty-five
minutes twice a day to school, leaving Thomas in the care of strangers at six
in the morning, the guilt, the tragedy, the pain and divine circumstances.
All these things working together to create who she is,
today. God has always done mighty things in her life, even when she had to make
hard choices. She spends her days in the classroom, now, and not the newsroom.
I think she is comfortable in both. When she makes her first appearance in the
classroom, she likes to sit in the back of the room, just to see how surprised
the students the students are when they find out she is the professor.
For some
reason the students just assume that the class will be taught by an older white
male. Some are surprised that she is a
black woman. They are also surprised that she is a middle-aged woman, who
doesn't look middle aged, but exudes the knowledge and abilities of a person
much older. In high school she exuded the same wealth. Her students are blessed
to have a seasoned newswoman to lead them towards their own goals and
aspirations. Every lesson that she has learned she can give to them. She can
show them how success isn't just what you do, but how deep your faith and words
can carry you. This is the truth of a real teacher. Use everything in you, to
make you who you want to be.
You can catch up Felicia on her Facebook page:
Or view her professional profile at:
https://www.utc.edu/communication/profiles/bxd718.php
Student success story:
https://youtu.be/llZXPks6A44
Student success story:
https://youtu.be/llZXPks6A44
