Lane College gets update thanks to nationwide competition

JACKSON, Tenn. — Mass Communication students at Lane College are getting a new place to learn.

Braylin Laster with Alumni Affairs says the college competed in the 2021 Home Depot Retool Your School competition, and was awarded a campus improvement grant.

“We compete online with social media votes and on their website, getting website votes,” Laster said. “The HBCU’s that receive the most votes get a grant. This year we came out with a $50,000 grant.”

The building that houses their radio station will be remolded to fit two new areas.

Laster says one section will be called the “Innovative Incubator” that both students and alumni can use for media projects.

“Freelance work, designing photos, making videos, if they want to edit, they come down here and they can do that as well. We will also have some of our Mass Communication classes housed in this building. It would be a multi-purpose building.”

And the other: a brand new news station.

“Broadcasting interviews, broadcasting live games, sporting events or even our weekly chapel on Wednesdays,” Laster said. “Our news station would be able to cover that and put that out for all of our students and alumni community.”

He says this improvement project is going to be a great asset for students, and provide hands-on experience that will help them in their career.

“It’s going to be great particularly for our students to build their resumes, build their portfolios. If they want to get some hands-on, real work experience at Lane College as a student, this would be the place for them to do that.”

Laster says they hope to have the project finished by the end of the Fall 2021 semester.

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