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Faculty Profiles: Whitney, Valerie

This guide provides information on Bethune-Cookman University faculty, including their research interests, accomplishments and activities, and brief biographical details.

Valerie Whitney

Professor Valerie Whitney

Valerie Whitney

Position Title: Professor of Practice (Multimedia Journalism)

Office Location: Fine Arts 319

Office Phone: 386-481-2703

Email: whitneyv@cookman.edu

Degrees

  • M.A. Journalism, University of Maryland
  •  B.A., History, Lincoln University (PA)

Courses Taught at B-CU

  • Intro to Mass Communication
  • Intro to Journalism
  • News Editing
  • Reporting Skills
  • Photojournalism
  • Public Affairs Reporting
  • Magazine & Feature Writing
  • Internship coordinator

Brief Biographical Sketch

Hometown--Norfolk, VA; Married & 2 adult children; former newspaper reporter (Lakeland LEDGER and the Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL)

Research Interests

  • Genealogy

Publications

  • “The Ancestors and Descendants of Grant Ulysses Garris and Mattie Gertrude Price Garris of Norfolk, Virginia” (family history)
  • “Good Eats” (Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church cookbook)

Grants

  • 2024-2025 The University of Vermont Center for Community News Faculty Champion
  • 2023-2024 Solutions Journalism HBCU/Black Press Fellow

Awards & News

  • Winner, 2021-2022 Excellence in Teaching Award (B-CU College of Arts and Humanities)
  • Winner, 2015 Wilton C. Scott Award for Excellence in Scholastic Journalism (Southern Regional Press Institute);
  • Inductee, Central Florida Association of Black Journalists & Broadcasters Hall of Fame

Current Research

  •  “The Ancestors and Descendants of Charles Roscoe Whitney and Kathleen Edwards Whitney of Norfolk, Virginia”
  • “A History of the Daytona Beach Section of NCNW Inc.”

Service Projects

 I serve as an adviser to Voice of the Wildcats student newspaper, UniverCity Magazine, McLeod Magazine and the B-CU campus chapter of the Association of Black Journalists 

Service, Outreach Activities, Community Partnerships

  • President, Daytona Beach Community Section of the National Council of Negro Women Inc.
  • Standards Chair, Gama Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
  • Assistant Public Relations Director, Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church—Daytona Beach
  • Member, School Advisory Committee for Campbell Middle School
  • Member, East Central Florida Chapter, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
  • Founding Member, Roots Revisited Book Club
  • Member, Central Florida Association of Black Journalists
  • Member, National Association of Black Journalists
  • Member, Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Journalism