Harding alumnus awarded $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship

By Kylie Akins

Harding University alumnus and investigative reporter
Jerry Mitchell entered the ranks of the 24 MacArthur Fellows this
year, receiving $500,000 of  “no strings attached” money for his
diligent work in unsolved Civil Rights-era cases.

So far, Mitchell’s work has aided in the conviction of four Klansmen
who had remained unpunished for murders committed in the 1960s.

Jerry “Boo” Mitchell graduated in 1982 from Harding with a degree in
journalism, known by many for his rebellious and truth-seeking spirit.
He wrote satirical columns for The Bison newspaper as a student.

“I wasn’t very surprised when I heard later that he was doing this
investigative reporting,” Dennis Organ, a Harding teacher who was
close to Mitchell and currently dean of the College of Arts and
Humanities, said. “He had always seemed into interesting causes.
Things that wouldn’t seem just or logical to him, he would write about
them.”

Mitchell has received more than 20 national awards, including being
nominated as one of three Pulitzer Prize finalists in 2006. He was
portrayed in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi in 1996 and has inspired
many in other states to reexamine their own buried Civil Rights cases.
Threatened several times throughout his career, he has continued his
investigations diligently for more than 20 years.

“I think we need people out there that are dedicated to the truth,”
Mitchell said. “I think that’s what it’s all about. For a certain
group of people, they think the truth is movable and malleable, that
everybody has their own truth. Well that’s not truth. There is such a
thing as truth. Someone is murdered; somebody killed them. That’s what
I try to do as an investigative reporter, is to expose the truth.”

A radio show host once asked him how he could be a Christian and a
journalist, as if it were an oxymoron. Mitchell responded that he saw
no disconnect.

“Being a Christian and a journalist I see as synonymous because we are
both truth-seekers,” Mitchell said. “We’re trying to find truth; we’re
about the truth. As Christians, I think we have an advantage as a
journalist because we do believe in things as absolute truths. And
constantly that is something I strive for, is to try to dig up a
truth. It’s not like I get it always correct or get every bit of
truth, but I continue to work for that.”

Mitchell plans to use the money to work full-time on these cases and
finish a book he has started on his experiences with the
investigations.

The MacArthur Foundation awards fellowships to nominees who are
exceptionally creative and make an impact in their field, which
include writers, scientists, artists, humanists, teachers and
entrepreneurs. The $500,000 is given to the recipients without any
limitations of how it is to be used, but the fellowship is only given
to those who have a great likelihood of continuing the work they excel
in.

The foundation is also involved in dealing with issues concerning
human rights, global conservation, security, urban progress and the
effects of technology. From 1981 to 2007, 756 Fellows have been
selected.

Courtesy of The Bison student newspaper. To view the complete story go
to http://thebisonnews.com.