MC Christian Studies Leaders Select Longtime Broadcaster for Alumnus Award
Throughout his 35-plus years in broadcasting, Walt Grayson ‘78, renowned weather anchor, feature reporter and host of the popular television series “Mississippi Roads,” has seen virtually every town and experienced virtually everything there is to do in the Magnolia State.
Yet he admits there is no place quite like Mississippi College.
“I never hear anything bad about Mississippi College,” said Grayson, who graduated from MC with degrees in Bible and history. “You can go anywhere in the state and say, ‘I graduated from Mississippi College,’ and nobody has anything derogatory to say about that.”
The same could be said of Grayson. The Greenville native has carved a deep niche as the producer of “good news” stories about a state that has struggled at times to be viewed in a favorable light. In the era of “If it bleeds, it leads” journalism, Grayson has been a refreshing source of positive stories.
Which is one reason the award-winning television journalist has been named MC’s Department of Christian Studies Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.
“He’s just an outstanding public servant,” said Dr. Burn Page, professor and chair of Christian Studies. “He’s fulfilling a ministry in a very public way, whether it’s on the local TV channel or PBS.”
Dr. Wayne VanHorn, professor of Christian Studies, referred to Grayson as a “Mississippi institution.”
“He‘s a great representative of Mississippi College,” VanHorn said. “You can see him following his dream and doing what he loves to do. He’s pastored and, of course, he has been in broadcast journalism for more than 35 years.”
About that pastoring opportunity. Grayson said after “about five good years of my preaching,” he discovered he wasn’t called to preach after all. He was told that a calling is 90 percent desire, so, “If you don’t have the desire to do it, you’re going to be miserable and you’re going to make any church you preach at miserable,” he said. “You’ve really got to love it.”
Instead, he pursued a career in broadcasting, something he had done at radio stations on a part-time basis since his high school days in Greenville. In 1984, he became a weather anchor and occasional feature reporter at WLBT-TV in Jackson, eventually switched to a full-time feature reporter role, and launched “Mississippi Roads” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He is now the full-time lifestyle and feature reporter for WJTV.
The author of four books about his travels throughout the state, Grayson writes a monthly column for the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s “Today in Mississippi” publication.
Admittedly, Grayson’s career trajectory has differed quite a bit from previous Christian Studies Distinguished Alumnus of the Year choices, which makes his selection all the more intriguing, Page said.
“Most of the Alumnus of the Year that we select are usually pastors or seminary professors or something like that,” he said. “(Selecting) Walt was somewhat coloring outside the line, if you will.
“But he kind of stood out in that regard and is somewhat different than who we’ve usually been honoring, and that’s one reason we chose him.”
Grayson credits his alma mater for challenging him to discover more about his personal beliefs and, ultimately, his faith.
“This is where I had the dust knocked off me,” Grayson said. “Growing up in a rather conservative Southern Baptist family, not very many controversial subjects came up around the supper table. Everybody agreed with everybody; nobody challenged anybody's beliefs or anything like that.
“This is the first place I was introduced to thinking other than what Momma and Daddy had always taught. I was really challenged to say, ‘Ok, what do I believe and why do I believe this, and do I believe it just because it’s what I heard all my life, or do I believe it because there’s something to it?’ So it reinforced my faith in that I had to dig deeper to find out whether I really had one or not.”
He said he felt “very honored” to receive the Christian Studies Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award, even if his ministry appealed more to television viewers than a church congregation.
“I did not pursue a career in the professional ministry,” he said. “I was one of those guys who came here and didn’t become a preacher. I don’t even know that I consciously tried to make sure there was a Christian slant to my stories or if I just did nice stories.
“But it’s a great honor that people, where I went to school, have kept up with me and not only noticed what I do, but think I’ve done it well enough to award me their Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award. It’s nice to know the home folks are keeping up with you.”
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