“I’ve got 10 minutes with Maya Angelou.”
I said that a dozen times, maybe two dozen. To anyone within earshot last week. The 10-minute phone interview certainly wasn’t expected, and it certainly wasn’t supposed to make it into the August issue the Vision that the staff and I were knee-deep into. But it’s Maya Angelou. A woman who has poured out her life on paper, who has marched with world leaders, written on request for presidents, and moved and inspired millions. Someone who is truly an American icon and a national treasure.
And a peach, even at the ripe age of 83.
If I got anything out of the interview, it’s that she’s got more heart, soul, and fight in her than most of us put together. Her perspective is one of a kind, and it was a pleasure to delve into it with her for the few minutes we could. I hope you think the same when you read it or hear her speak Sept. 19 at the humanities symposium at Belmont.
While the Vision won’t get this caliber of interview every day, our goal is to give the Belmont community the best material we can, whether the voice comes from a national treasure or a freshman stepping warily onto a life-altering path.
There will always be some sense of constants on campus (blasting and construction, the largest and smartest freshman class ever, a game against Duke now and then), but guessing anything beyond these constants could well be a crapshoot. The interview on the opposite page is a testament to that. It’s these impromptu moments that truly define what we and our university can and will be. We want to be there to cover as much as possible.
Whether planned or out of the blue, news or culture, the Vision hopes to be the chief source for all things Belmont. Our status as a monthly print edition means we’re putting an even greater emphasis on our award-winning website, belmontvision.com. Make sure to check out the site between issues. We’ll have more content than ever on it.
Atthe same time, we’ll still have some of our best features. Beat n’ Track, in-depth interviews with songwriters and performers, has been handed over to our colleague, Dustin Stout, by fearless former editor Erin Carson — now in the graduate journalism program at Syracuse University. Also, check out The Week at Belmont on our website. Our weekly news-comedy show has some new blood this year, but our goal is to deliver the same level of laughs for another year. Stay tuned.
We’re still the student news source at Belmont, which means your input is essential to making the Vision better If you think something needs to be covered or see a story that needs to be told, tell us, e-mail us, stop us in line at the Corner Court, whatever. The same goes if you have something you want to contribute. It doesn’t matter if you want to write, shoot video, or do something we’ve never seen before. If you feel the need to tell a story about Belmont or beyond, we’ll strive to be the source you can tell it through.
From here, all I can say is it’s going to be a wild ride. We hope you join us for it.
Brian Wilson, Vision editor, is a junior journalism major.