Reporters

Jim Sterba

Long before he was an accomplished journalist for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Jim Sterba was a reporter for The State News, MSU’s student newspaper.

In 1965, the 21-year-old journalist covered the visit of a prominent civil rights icon, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. At that time Sterba faced a tight deadline to deliver the nuts and bolts of King’s visit. More recently, he spent some time to reflect on his experience of 42 years ago.

“There was a certain sensitivity to the civil rights issue at MSU during that time,” said the MSU alumnus. “Given former MSU President John Hannah’s position with the Civil Rights Commission and former MSU education professor Bob Green’s involvement directly with King, there was an awareness of race relations.”

The 1960s was a time of disruption and questioning of authority everywhere, including the MSU campus. Sterba, who grew up on a farm in Michigan, said his racial awareness and notions of fairness and equal rights didn’t blossom until he came to MSU. 
 
“You have to remember the climate then wasn’t just about civil rights, black and white; there was also a lot of student rights stuff going on,” Sterba said. “There was a whole number of issues on campus, including the university acting as parents, the dorms being segregated by gender and the women being in the dorms by their 10:30 p.m. curfew.” 

In 1964, a year before King’s visit to campus, Sterba had an opportunity to travel with the Student Tutorial Education Project, also known as STEP, to the Holly Springs, Miss., area. During his visit to Jackson, Miss., Sterba also covered the hearings where Hannah, in his official capacity as chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, presided over the historical hearings.

“I came back home much more interested in the topic of civil rights. I had heard these stories after stories of how people weren’t treated as citizens,” Sterba said. “You can’t help but go for a week to 10 days at something like this without getting aware really fast,” he said referring to the hearings.

While he was an undergraduate, Sterba landed a summer internship in Washington with the U.S Civil Rights Commission. As a student intern/reporter, he spent a great deal of time with the “big shots” who covered the civil rights movement full time.

James P. Sterba is currently a senior correspondent in the New York bureau of The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of the best-selling novel, “Frankie’s Place.” He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism.