People who worked closely with Elayne Hayes-Anthony remember her as a devoted educator and pioneering broadcast television journalist who taught and mentored a generation of Mississippi communications professionals. She died Thursday morning.

Hayes-Anthony also achieved numerous firsts during her career. She was the first educator and Black person to serve on the state’s association’s broadcasters board of directors. She was also the first Black woman news anchor on WJTV Channel 12.

For Sen. Hillman Fraizer, a Democrat from Jackson and a classmate of Hayes-Anthony, witnessing her history-making journey spurred immense pride to be from Jackson. 

“She inspired so many young girls and boys who saw that they could go on and do the same thing she did for journalism and communications,” Frazier said. “She is a role model, and folks appreciate her service and dedication to the university.”

Hayes-Anthony was “known for her unwavering commitment to student success and academic excellence,” the university stated in a news release. “She mentored countless aspiring journalists and communications professionals while helping strengthen JSU’s legacy as a leading historically Black university.”

Hayes-Anthony was also “deeply committed” to students’ success and “to the advancement of journalism and media education at Jackson State,” Interim President Denise Jones-Gregory said in a statement. “Her leadership in the classroom, within her department and across the institution helped shape generations of communicators and storytellers.”

Hayes-Anthony grew up in Jackson and graduated from Jim Hill High School. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University. She was a television news anchor for four years before earning a doctorate in organizational communication and broadcast law from Southern Illinois University. 

Hayes-Anthony’s roles at Jackson State included serving as head of the Department of Mass Communications.

Her career included teaching at Belhaven University as a tenured professor and serving as the chair of the university’s communications department. She was a member of an education task force appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican who served from 2004 to 2012. Barbour also appointed Hayes-Anthony to the State Board of Health in 2007. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who served from 2012 to 2020, reappointed her to a six-year term in 2013.

Hayes-Anthony “led always with intellect, creativity and integrity,” Dr. Lucius M. Lampton, chairman of the Mississippi Board of Health, said in a statement. “The Board of Health and our agency will miss her gracious presence. I also will miss her dear friendship.”

Longtime journalist Jimmie Gates’, who wrote for the Clarion Ledger for 40 years,  said his memories of Hayes-Anthony began in the classroom. He recalled how, as a communications student at Jackson State University in the late 1970s, he found her passion for journalism and storytelling inspiring. It left an impression on him as he entered the professional world. . 

Almost 40 years after he graduated from the historically Black university, Gates said, Hayes-Anthony remember him from her classroom and praised his work at the Clarion Ledger in front of colleagues and journalists at a regional National Association of Black Journalism conference in 2023. 

Over about 50 years, Hayes-Anthony “has been instrumental at preparing Jackson State students for the professional journalism world,” said Gates, president of the Jackson Association of Black Journalists. “We students, those who have graduated and work locally or in the state, owe her a debt of gratitude. I would not be the professional I am today and I owe that to her. I am truly saddened by her loss.” 

Jackson Mayor John Horhn said in a statement that the city lost a trailblazer who “returned home to pour her knowledge back into this community.” 

“Her leadership at Jackson State, from the classroom to the president’s office, reflected her commitment to excellence,” Horhn said. “Jackson is better because she chose to live, work, and lead here.” 

Attorney Lisa Ross first met Hayes-Anthony as a communications student at Jackson State in the 1980s. As a professor, Hayes-Anthony had high expectations and wouldn’t hesitate to let students know when they didn’t meet them, Ross said. 

Ross started her career as a print journalist in Mississippi, California and Tennessee. She said she often called Hayes-Anthony for job advice. Even after leaving journalism to pursue a career in law, Ross said, she still called Hayes-Anthony for mentorship and motivation. 

“She would work past 5 p.m. to find her students a job or internship. I couldn’t ask for a better friend and constant confidant than Dr. Anthony,” Ross said. “Her former students will work to ensure her contributions are remembered and celebrated.” 

Hayes-Anthony didn’t achieve “her dream” of becoming president of Jackson State, but Ross said she was grateful to witness her serve as the university’s temporary acting president in 2023.

Ronnie Agnew, general manager of New Jersey Advance Media, said his heart dropped when he first heard the news about Hayes-Anthony’s passing. He recalled when Hayes-Anthony first called him asking if her journalism students could tour the Clarion Ledger newsroom when he was the publication’s first Black executive editor.

“That call started a relationship I never knew would go any further beyond that moment,” Agnew said. “From then on, we worked so closely together all the way up until her death.” 

When Agnew left the Clarion Ledger to join Mississippi Public Broadcasting in 2011, Hayes-Anthony, then at Belhaven University, asked him to teach a journalism class as an adjunct professor at the private college in 2014.  That next year, she moved on to Jackson State University, where she asked Agnew to serve as the board chair to the journalism advisory board for eight years. 

“She didn’t settle for anything other than her best,” Agnew said. “That was Elayne. She built the journalism department at Belhaven from scratch. Her legacy and commitment to the craft of journalism, service to her community and students will live on.”