Office Hours

Giselle Kowalski:
Hi everybody, my name is Giselle Kowalski, and I'm the digital content producer here at Texas State University. You're listening to Office Hours, and today I'm here with Tyson. Tyson, what's up?

Tyson Taylor:
What's going on? Just had one of the best interviews, podcasts, I've ever been a part of.

Giselle Kowalski:
No, for real. You just talked to Dr. Laurie Fluker, who we were both in the class of when we were freshmen, and that was such an amazing conversation. What did you think about it?

Tyson Taylor:
I'm speechless. I remember the power and the passion that she would give in her lectures when I was a student in her class, and just to see it again on a more personal level was really special. There were a couple of moments where both of us were about to tear up, and that just shows the passion that she talks with and that she carries with her job, so it was amazing.

Giselle Kowalski:
Yeah. No, she's one of those people that she's unforgettable across the board at Texas State, and then this podcast just made me that much more proud of the fact that we get to talk to her and we're in her presence here all the time. So yeah, we hope you enjoy this conversation with Tyson Taylor and Dr. Laurie Fluker.

Tyson Taylor:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Texas State Office Hours podcast. I'm your host/interviewer, Tyson Taylor, and today, I'm joined alongside one of Texas State's most beloved professors. And with that being said, to begin, can you please tell us your name and what you teach here at Texas State?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Let me start by saying I love Tyson. Yes, my name is Dr. Laurie Fluker. I'm associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and associate dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communication.

Tyson Taylor:
And just so the audience is aware, how long have you been teaching at Texas State?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Since Heck was a pup. Let's see. I've been teaching here since 1989.

Tyson Taylor:
Wow, okay, so about three decades?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Yeah, that's correct.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. All right. Well, thank you so much. To start off every Office Hours podcast, we like to get things flowing with a little icebreaker question, so today's question is, if you could travel anywhere right now, where would it be and why?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
I would say I would love to go to Paris. I would've loved to have been there for the Olympics, City of Lights, and I love lights, and all of the historic things that go with it. My brother is actually there right now, so I hate him. But I think Paris would be the one place that I'd love to go right now.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. Absolute beautiful place. All right, let's get started. So we're going to take it back to the beginning, can you tell me where you're from, and what was it like growing up there?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
I'm originally from Houston, Texas, and I am the fourth child of a United Methodist minister. And so, what that meant was, for the most part, I lived in one parsonage and then another parsonage, and then another, so my life can be documented on the churches where my father was the minister. But it was a delightful life, it allowed me to get to know people outside of my family and people who ended up being a support for me, people who loved me. And so, I was very nurtured, I could not have asked for anything better.
My parents were both educators. My father was before he was a minister, and my mother was our kindergarten teacher when he married her. And so, she stopped teaching when they got married, and she taught all of the kids kindergarten at home, and continued to learn around the dinner table, because both parents were brilliant, and I'm hoping they passed a little bit of that to me, but it was just a great life. And at 14, my father became president of a United Methodist College, Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, and he was meant to give it a quiet burial, it was millions of dollars in debt, and so pretty much I was promised I could get back to my friends in Houston after a year.
It just so happens, however, that it's the institution... it's an historically Black institution in Marshall, and it's where my grandfather got his degree, one of the first African-Americans in the state to get a teaching certificate, it's where my father and his brother graduated from. So I was honored to have been the third generation to graduate from there. So what you see then is that instead of being there a year, my father decided to stay and raise the millions of dollars in debt, and so we were there for 15 years. But it was a glorious 15 years. And so, I attended there, and I even went back after I got my master's degree and started a mass communication program, which is still there, so very proud of it. By the way, I worked on the radio station there, so that's what bit me in the neck and made me decide that I wanted to go into media.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. And you touched on your collegiate side, but before that, were there any jobs growing up in Houston that you held before you started thinking about careers and stuff?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
No, I really didn't have any jobs. I started working for the first time in my life at Wiley as an undergraduate. I worked in the science department, of all places. But no, I never really had any jobs, but I had pretend jobs. I always wanted to be a teacher, I saw how great my mother was at it. And so, my family got me a really small table and got me some supplies, and so I taught my dolls on a regular basis. So I had all kinds of training from day one, all the way back that I can remember, to be a teacher. And so, that was my pretend job until I got to college.

Tyson Taylor:
Can you share a little bit about your journey? You already touched about it, but just your experiences, what you were studying, while earning your Bachelor of Science at Wiley College till your doctorate at the University of Texas.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Absolutely. So as I mentioned, I majored in English and history at Wiley College. I thought I would be a high school English teacher, so I actually did my student teaching and did everything in preparation for that. But simultaneously, I was working at the radio station, and I knew from day one also I loved media. And when I realized you could actually get a degree and teach media, that was eye-opening for me. So I begged my parents to start thinking about my going to get a master's degree as soon as I finished, I don't know why I was in a hurry. But I graduated in three years from Wiley, and that was with all that I had done with student teaching and all of that.
And during that time, I met who would later be my husband, and changed my mind about going to get a master's degree. But my parents told my boyfriend then that if we married anytime before I went to go get my master's degree, that my husband and I would have to pay for it. And so, my husband is cheap, and so the world should know that. And so, instead I did go to Southern Methodist University, and because it was a Methodist institution, I got a really good scholarship. And it was a difficult journey for me. First, it was difficult because I had never left family, and my boyfriend, later fiance, was in Marshall, Texas, where I had left, so it was going to be difficult for me anyway.
And then, the other part of that is that I was the only Black in my residence hall, it was a graduate residence hall, I was the only Black there for the first year. I was the only Black in my broadcast journalism master's program. And so, for the first few weeks, I just felt invisible. But I had the confidence that Wiley, my undergraduate institution, had instilled in me, so I knew I could do it. And sure enough, I got all kinds of friends. After the first exam, I was the only one who passed, and so I had all kinds of friends offering to take me back and forth to Wiley, whatever was necessary to let them get that study time with me.
So it was tough, but I did it in two years. So I graduated in May, and my husband and I got married in August of that same year. And so, I started teaching in college the same year that... As a matter of fact, August of 1980, I started teaching and I got married, so it was a great year for me. It was great to finally be back home and to start that mass communication program at Wiley. I loved my students. Wiley is a very small institution. It's now right at 1,000 students, but at the time that I was there, 500 students. Well, I teach that many and more in the fall of every year, and so you can imagine the kind of loving environment that we had there. And so, that really is the basis for everything that I do and everywhere that I go, they made me know that no matter who I was or who surrounded me, that I could always be successful.
And so, I left there and taught for a few years at Wiley, and my husband and I decided that we wanted to get our doctoral degrees, and we went to what was East Texas State University for a year, it's now Texas A&M Commerce. And we were driving 250 miles back and forth on Tuesday and Saturday. And our professors there told us, "You probably want to go to the University of Texas," that what we really wanted to do only available to us there. And we decided that, and so we moved here and took our courses. We had scholarships that paid for the courses so we didn't have to work. And at the end of that two-year period, my husband started work the third year I started here, and we both ended up... he is an educational administration, his doctorate is in education administration, and mine is in radio, television, film.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. Quite a journey.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
And by the way, once again, I was the only at University of Texas, and so that just tended to be what I was accustomed to. There was little to no diversity to be found, there were no diverse faculty members. They later did in my program. But it was always interesting to realize that I just simply was that one person in the class that was different from everyone else.

Tyson Taylor:
Every single year, you serve as a mentor, someone who students can look up to, every single semester. And you talk about some of the challenges you faced in your collegiate career, were there any mentors or role models who helped you get through those challenging times?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Absolutely. So yes, I did have mentors. I had mentors, first of all, my parents, and then I was the youngest, and all of my siblings were seven-plus years older than I was, I was a surprise, and so they served then and remain mentors to me right now. So my family, I would say, were my first mentors. Then the extended mentors would be at Wiley College, and no matter the fact that I was the only, I always had wonderful people who poured into me, both at Southern Methodist University and at the University of Texas. And then, when it was time for my husband and me to find jobs, I decided that it was time for him to find a job and I'd stay at home, that's what he says. And so, I didn't work for that first year after my course work at the University of Texas, but he did, and he kept saying that a job was not going to come and find me, that I needed to go out and seek one.
Well, sure enough, we went to a movie one night, and I came back and on my answering machine there was a gentleman by the name of Dr. Bennett, and he was chair of the Journalism Department here, and had heard about me through the University of Texas, and wanted to come over to the apartment to visit with me to see if I might be interested in teaching. And my husband said, "Okay, you're the only person I know where a job does come to you at home." But anyway, so Roger Bennett came that next morning. We didn't have the internet, I had no way of knowing whether I was inviting the son of Sam to come to my house, and so I insisted that my husband stay home from work that next morning.
So Dr. Bennett met both of us, and he fell in love with me and I fell in love with him, and he said, "I want you to come up to Southwest Texas," at the time, "And I want the faculty to meet you and see if it's something that they feel you'd be good in the department." My husband, once again, brought me up here, we parked at JCK and climbed the five million steps between JCK and Old Main, and if I made any sense in my discussions with the faculty, it's amazing, because I was still huffing and puffing. But anyway, so I had individual interviews with every faculty member. I went to each of their offices, my husband and I both did, and they each interviewed me for about 10 to 15 minutes. That was an interesting and harrowing experience.
But at the end of that day, they invited me to come back, and they were the best mentors that I've ever had in my life, I think. Once again, they poured into me, Roger Bennett was just the most delightful person ever. And each faculty member that was there, one is still here, only one, Larry Carlson is still here, that was there at the time that I was hired. And Larry Carlson was in the office next to me, and I'm glad I get this opportunity because he retired during COVID and I didn't get the chance to cry and slobber all over him because I would have, because he was just someone that was a rock for me.
He is someone who made sure that if there was something I didn't understand, he would explain it to me. And so, I got my footing, I got my confidence, I got all of that because I had Larry Carlson to my right and then my left as I moved offices. And then ultimately, Tim England was hired. And so, those two persons were the persons who every day saw to it that I was in a good place, that I didn't need anything, just outstanding mentors.
And so, I've been blessed that everywhere I've been, I've had people who cared for me and made me know that and made me feel that I was seen.

Tyson Taylor:
You talk about getting hired at Texas State, you were the third African American woman to be hired as faculty at Texas State, can you tell me some of the challenges and some of the opportunities you faced as a trailblazer in this role?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Well, it's interesting that you would ask that, because as I mentioned before, I had been accustomed to being first, or being in those early numbers. And so, at every place that I entered that was predominantly white, I had to prove myself. Every time I walked into a new space, people assumed that I was there because I'm Black and I'm a female. And so, I had to deal with those kinds of ideas and thoughts that people have. And not everybody welcomed me. I would have to say everybody in my department did, but not everybody in each venue where I was.
But at Texas State, certainly there were those in spite of others who might not have believed in me, there were more who did. And so, it's been a wonderful journey, as a matter of fact, and not long after I got here, I guess within a decade, I guess that's a pretty long time, but anyway, Dr. Jerome Supple was president, and there is a position that they have called the special assistant to the president that they pick faculty members that show some promise in administration, and Dr. Supple chose me for that two-year term. And just the idea that I got to work with what was a wonderful man and got that kind of experience.
My father had been in administration, my father had been a previous president, so I knew something of administration, and it got me a chance to get my feet wet in terms of whether I would want administration. What I realized is that I like administration, I feel that I could have a place in that. However, my first love is the classroom, and no matter where I've been, no matter what I've done, I've realized that I never ever want to be a full-time administrator. What that would mean would be that I get away from my students, and that's something that I never want to do.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. And your parents were educators, you have children who came to Texas State and have had collegiate careers, what is your family's academic and professional achievements? How does it shape your perspective on higher education?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
That's a really good question. By the way, did I mention I love you? All right, so it's an absolutely good question. Here's what happened. When I was growing up, it was understood that we would all go to college and graduate from college. All of us got master's degrees, two of the four children went on to get doctoral degrees. But it was just always understood that we would be working and we would be working for others. I have one sister who was a nurse, and so that was her chosen career, but everyone else at least taught somewhere along the way, no matter what else they were doing. So one sister was an assistant superintendent in the Houston Independent School District for years, my brother was a minister, well, is a minister, but he became a United Methodist bishop, and is now a bishop in residence at the Woodlands Methodist Church. And so, sacrifice, working with others, making sure that we had something to offer.
My dad used to always tell us that we needed to remember what our raison d'etre was. In French, that is your reason for being. And they instilled in us, and I'm sure his parents instilled in him, that we had to keep giving back. It is Du Bois who said that there should be a talented 10th of the Black population that would go on and get degrees and then come back and give. And I think that's the philosophy that my family has had all along, that the expectation is that you are going to get that degree. And so, all of the children, all of the grandchildren, have degrees.
And let me go ahead and give Texas State a shout-out right now, because I've got two sons that are both double graduates. My youngest has his undergraduate in mass communication and a master's in mass communication. My oldest son has a bachelor's of administration, that's exactly right, in accounting and an MBA, both from Texas State. And then, I've got two nieces and three nephews that are graduates of Texas State. So it is a family tradition, we are Bobcats to the core, and the one or two who are not Bobcats are just left out at Christmas, we don't pay attention to them. We always take a Bobcat picture, there are only two who are not in there, but anyway. But Texas State has been a great deal to us, and it's not because I teach here, it's because Texas State has given to them and poured into them, and they are all extremely successful because of education, and specifically those Bobcats, because of what Texas State has done for us.

Tyson Taylor:
And I came in [inaudible 00:18:40] the impact you've had on Texas State, you were the first African-American faculty member to receive the alumni teaching award and be named the presidential fellow at Texas State, I just want to know, what do these recognitions mean to you personally and professionally?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
To be seen is always an honor. And as I indicated, the fact that Dr. Supple tapped me to be special assistant to the president, the fact that he saw something in me was just miraculous for me. The Teaching Award of Honor, those teaching awards that I have are probably the most treasured things that I have, and that's because, in many instances, it comes from the students. You have to know your demographic audience and you want to please your demographic audience, and the fact that my students would have such faith in me and suggest that I make a difference in their lives, even if it's a small difference, that I make a difference, that is so meaningful to me. Now, the Teaching Award of Honor is what alumni give, and so just the fact that, again, I was even considered for it. It's on my wall, it will remain there, it's older than you. But it's an honor for me, and I can't even begin to express just how important it is to me.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. And I want to talk about the students, I was a student of yours a couple of semesters ago, and fellow students, we just talk and talk about how great you are and-

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
We can stop this right now, can't go any further. I'm sorry, go ahead.

Tyson Taylor:
I just want to say you've been recognized as an outstanding professor by students for six years, I just want to know, what do you believe most resonates with your students, and how do you maintain such a high level of engagement and effectiveness in the classroom?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Let me tell you a story that my father told me, and I think it all boils down to passion, I'm doing what I'm passionate about. And my father used to tell us a story about the founder of the Methodist Church, his name was Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley used to go preach to the people on the streets in London, not the ones that went to these big cathedrals, not the ones that had highfalutin jobs, but the ones that no one paid any attention to, the ones that were unseen. And after a while, the crowds got so big of these street people that he finally needed a place to actually preach to them that would be large enough.
And so, he went to priests there in London and said, "May I borrow the cathedral when no one else is using it?" And the priests were of course thinking to themselves, we can't even fill this cathedral. Sure, you can try it. And the first time he did, there were masses of people. There was not even enough room for all the people who lived on the streets who came to hear Charles Wesley. Actually, it's John Wesley, his brother, but anyway. So a priest is said to have asked him, "What is it that makes this number of people keep coming back?" And he said, "It's really simple. I set myself afire and they come to watch me burn." Let me do it one more time. "I set myself a fire and they come to watch me burn." And my father used to say to us, "Find what it is that you're passionate about, and when you do, people will feel your flame wherever you are."
And so, I hope and I pray that I'm doing what my father told me to do. My parents are no longer with me, but my goal is to make them proud. And if some kind of way I find a way to pass on my passion, that flame that burns within me, to my students, and I teach hundreds, but just a handful is all that I'm asking for, if I can do that, then I will have been successful. And I think it's because they feel that passion that I have, because I love what I do.

Tyson Taylor:
You're about to bring tears to my eyes. You weren't lying when you said we could stop this podcast. The passion that you speak with, it's absolutely beautiful.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Thank you.

Tyson Taylor:
I'm pretty sure everybody who listens to this, this is a question they're dying to hear, what advice would you give to young scholars and aspiring media professionals who look up to your career and achievements?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
It goes back to what I just said, it's really, really important to find out who you are. What is your purpose? What is your goal? What is it that you love to do? Now, I'll whisper on this podcast that they don't even have to pay me to do what I do, I love it just that much. I have an eight o'clock class, I'm not a morning person, I have an eight o'clock class, but I arise at 5:00 without a single alarm going off because I am so excited to get back in that classroom at eight o'clock. If you can find something that you love to do as much as I, then that's my first piece of advice to you.
The other part is that we're living in a changing media environment, it changes every day, and so there's a new streaming service, there's a new this, there's AI that may well replace us all because it's growing faster than even the designers had in mind that it would. And so, the question becomes, how can I prepare myself, if I'm a student, for whatever media environment, or whatever major it is, how do I prepare myself for the changing landscape that's in front of me? And what I would recommend is first technology. You all have it in your hands 24/7 anyway. But how about let's learn how to edit, let's learn how to do photography, let's learn how to do the things that may not be necessary in the job that you think you'll get as soon as you get out, but eventually, the fact that you have those skills will make a difference as to who it is that will hire you. And so, technology.
Another, language. We have such a diverse audience in America now, and so the largest minority population is Spanish-speaking, the fastest growing population Asian Americans. And so, what do you need to do right now to prepare for cultures that you may not know anything about? The beauty is you're surrounded by these cultures. And so, how about let's learn as much as we can, and I don't mean just in the classroom, we need to spend time outside of the classroom, enhancing our skills, enhancing what it is that we do, who we are, so that when we graduate, we're capable of doing just about anything anybody needs.
Let me tell you a quick story. My daughter, she's the renegade who went to the University of Texas as an undergrad. And so, she had such videography experience coming from high school, she didn't get very much of it at UT, but she had a great deal of it coming in. And so, for her sorority, she would make videos that they would post on YouTube all the time. When she was graduating, she chose one of the girls that had come into the sorority behind her as a mentee and taught her how to do the same videography.
Well, the student was a business major and had no need for that, but the sorority had a need for that, so she did all of that videography for the sorority. In her senior year, she went to a Fortune 500 company as a business intern, along with at least 15 to 20 other business interns, and the only one in that group that knew how to do videography, and that Fortune 500 company needed it at the last minute and had no idea she would be able to do anything like that. She did, at the end of that internship, she's the only one that they offered her a job as soon as she graduated.
So my point to you is you never know what skills will be needed and when. If you look at the news now and you look at Richard Engel, for example, in the Middle East, he is speaking the languages of the people he's interviewing and then translating to us. How powerful is that? How prepared is he for the assignment that he has? That's what I'm talking about. If you start preparing... And you're already halfway there, the fact that you're doing a podcast, I have hundreds of students, how many are doing podcasts like you're doing, not for class assignments, but because you're doing it on the side? That's what I'm talking about. The fact that you're building your resume as you sit here.
KTSW, there's no way in the world you're a mass communication major that you don't work for KTSW and the University Star to prepare yourself for whatever else is out there. No matter what internship you get as a senior, you should have already used what we have here on this campus to enhance your skills and be ready for those outside internships. So don't get me started on my... That's a soapbox for me. I talk to my students all the time about sleeping through... You're out in Sewell Park, how about studying something in Sewell? I don't suggest that you shouldn't have downtime, but there should always be a period of time where you're trying to figure out, what can I do to enhance my skills to make me more marketable when I get out of here?

Tyson Taylor:
Wow, you just brought me back to those lectures that you used to give. Every single class you would go up on your soapbox, and those were the moments I looked forward to most going in your class.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Who cares about newspapers, right?

Tyson Taylor:
Dr. Fluker's about to drop some life gems that are about to change our life. But yeah, thank you so much for that.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Thank you.

Tyson Taylor:
We're winding down, I have one last question for you. Reflecting on your career and achievements, what are you most proud of, and what legacy do you hope to leave behind?

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Wow. That I cared. I tell my students regularly that I love them, and it's absolutely true. Listen, I could have retired, I've got all my paperwork, all my ducks lined up in a row, because as I mentioned earlier, my husband is cheap, and so we've saved, we paid for my children's education. I don't need to work anymore, but I choose to work, and I don't want to retire. I've laughingly said that they'll probably take me out of here on a gurney, and that's probably true, because I care and I love this generation, I've loved every generation that I've taught. And the beauty is I see my students that are freshmen every day in class, and then I go home and I see my students who are in media there in Austin. I had one who came from mass comm a week on Tuesday, I realized I remember these folks who are out there working in the media right now when they sat in these chairs right here.
And so, the idea that we go from the beginning to this point in their lives, it's a marvelous experience for me, and it's one that I don't know if I ever want to give up. They're probably just going to have to put a boot print on my rump and get me out of here. But I just love it, and I do care, and I want to see each and every... I have the future Steve Jobs in my classes, I have future Bill Gates in my classes, I've got future Oprahs in my class. And so, just knowing that and knowing that I will play just an infinitesimal amount of credit for that, it's the best life ever and I don't ever want to change it.

Tyson Taylor:
Yes, ma'am. I want to thank you so much for coming in and sitting down and talking with me. Not only that, thank you so much for everything you do for Texas State University, and I'm pretty sure that thousands of students that you've inspired can attest to that.

Dr. Laurie Fluker:
Thank you so much. I appreciate the invitation. This is my first podcast, and so I am so honored, and I wouldn't have wanted to do it for anybody better. Thank you for the invitation, sir.

Tyson Taylor:
Thank you for listening to this episode of Office Hours. We hope you enjoyed this conversation. Make sure you tune in next time to learn more about the experiences of our amazing Texas State faculty. Also, remember to follow us on our social media, TXST. This podcast is a production of the Division of Marketing and Communications at Texas State University. Podcasts appearing on the Texas State University Network represent the views of the host and guests, not of Texas State University. Once again, I'm Tyson, and I'll see you next time.