Texas State grad a finalist for prestigious Society of Professional Journalists award

Texas State University alumnus Tafari Robertson was named a national finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards this year.

Robertson wrote for the University Star from the summer of 2017 until the end of the fall 2017 semester. His award was for general column writing. Following a furor on and off campus after the publication of a controversial opinion piece by student writer Rudy Martinez, both Martinez and opinions editor May Olvera were fired; Robertson resigned in solidarity.

During his time at Texas State University, Robertson also founded the Pan-African Action Committee and was one of the leaders of the student sit-in during the spring semester that led the university administration to make changes to address the needs of students of color.

Robertson, who graduated with a degree in public relations, said he likes to believe he left Texas State a better place than he found it.

“I have a lot faith in the student activist community at Texas State now and I definitely think I played a role in developing that, but as an institution Texas State still has so much work to do,” he said. “I’m not convinced that the administration is truly committed to doing that work besides the occasional concessions to student demands they’ve made so far. That said, I’m confident that the students will continue to work hard to keep Texas State on a path toward inclusivity and that’s definitely something that has improved since I started at Texas State.

“However, I really wish Texas State wouldn’t rely so heavily on the free labor of students of color to bring them up to a cultural standard necessary for all students in higher education but I’m not as confident in that happening. We’ll see how the new diversity admins do but that also depends on how much power they’re allotted and how much they’re willing to use it.”

Robertson is now working for an educational program for low-income students in Austin called CDF Freedom Schools. He said he hopes to “explore my research and activist work as an art practice that can serve communities of color, but I don’t have a firm idea of what that career is called or looks like yet.”