From left: School of Journalism and Media Professor Emerita Dorothy Bowles; Lisa Hood Skinner (’80), Mack Hufford (Bonnie’s brother), and Fatima Hyder (’94).
Bonnie Hufford put her all into what she did, whether she was teaching students proper grammar and Associated Press style or fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Before she passed away after a long battle with cancer, Hufford taught journalism students at the College of Communication and Information from 1985 to 2016. Years after her passing, several of her students and others who were impacted by her joyful spirit have contributed to create the Bonnie Hufford Endowment.
This endowment will support School of Journalism and Media students in attending the Southeastern Journalism Conference or related conferences, carrying on a tradition of excellence in journalism that Hufford advocated. This special endowment was made possible by donations from several people who fondly refer to her as “Ms. Bonnie” and say she was an integral figure in their lives both during and after their time at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Students Were Her Family
“My mother anointed Ms. Bonnie as my second mom. She’d say, ‘I’m the one who gave birth to her and raised her, but you’re her intellectual mom.’ If she sent me a card, she’d sign it ‘Mom #2’,” recalled Fatima Hyder (’94).
Hyder met Hufford as a high school student when she participated in a residential outreach program that allowed future journalism majors to experience the UT campus and get a taste of what it was like to be a college student. Hufford ran the program for many years. When Hyder later arrived on campus as a college student, Hufford was her assigned advisor.
“When I had come home from the outreach program, I had said that I wanted Dr. [Jim] Crook to be my advisor. But apparently, he knew more about me than I did, because Ms. Bonnie and I were a great match,” she said.
The two stayed close long after Hyder graduated, and Hufford was integral in steering Hyder into editing. Hufford recommended her for a Dow Jones editing internship, and Hyder found her passion in that field. She worked as a copy editor at two newspapers post-graduation before Hufford once again played a pivotal role in Hyder’s career by directing her to her current position as lead technical editor for an environmental consultant company.
“She gets a lot of credit for that, because she’s the one who gave me the foundation for what I’m doing today,” she said.
In turn, Hyder has been the person who helped push for an existing fund in Hufford’s name to receive enough donations to become endowed—a minimum of $25,000 is needed to establish an endowment, which means it will generate enough interest to be self-sustaining.
Hyder was consistently giving back to the school when she received a call from the College of Communication and Information’s advancement team asking why she gave. The answer was easy: Ms. Bonnie. From there, Hyder worked with CCI to find others who were willing to donate to the fund so Hufford’s legacy could continue supporting journalism students.
“She doesn’t have kids, so this is to me a really great legacy for her because she was so devoted to education and students having an opportunity to move forward in their life and their career,” Hyder said.
While she didn’t have children, Hufford was close to her brother, Mack Hufford. After their father died when Hufford was around 12, she helped take care of her little brother and keep him entertained. It was a blow when Hufford was first diagnosed with leukemia in her early 20s, but after receiving an initial dire diagnosis, she forged forward with life. Throughout the years, she would go into remission and, whenever she was able, volunteer with the American Cancer Society.
“She was very active for Relay for Life. I’ve got a box of her awards that are just astounding, she helped a lot of people over the years even though she was fighting cancer,” Mack said.
Those awards from the American Cancer Society included the St. George National Award, the organization’s highest honor for outstanding community service, and the Mary Lasker Award.
Mack said he thinks the endowment is “a wonderful thing” and a gesture that would be approved of by his sister. She was always generous with both her time and her money, he said, and helping college students was a significant part of her life.
An Academic Mentor
Alumna Jackie Cavnar (’94) said Hufford was both beloved and little feared by students who took her editing courses and faced her pop quizzes on AP style—though to take some of the intimidation out of her editing feedback, Hufford used a blue pen instead of a red one. It was such a signature move that her custom license plate read “BLUE PEN.”
“Aside from nitpicking on grammar and punctuation and AP style, Bonnie was really good at teaching you how to take a lot of information and find the most important point to prioritize in your storytelling. Which is a huge skill, it’s definitely something public relations professionals bring to the table to communicate, set priorities and boundaries, and determine best course of communications,” said Cavnar, who took the only route to public relations at UT at that time—a journalism major with a public relations track.
Like Hyder, Cavnar met Hufford at the journalism outreach camp. Just last summer she came across a mini version of The Daily Beacon they created while there. Hufford was a natural fit to lead the program as, prior to teaching at the university level, she taught high school students. Hyder and Cavnar are just two of many students who went through the program while it was under Hufford’s purview and who returned to UT as journalism majors.
While Cavnar said she wasn’t quite as close to Hufford as Hyder, she still appreciated the mentorship that instructor gave during her time at UT. When talking about her college mentor, suddenly Cavnar’s voice became filled with emotion as she held back tears.
“I don’t know why it’s hitting me right now,” she said. “She was a good mentor, and she cared a lot about her students. She was all around a good person. If you ever had a question or ever had a doubt, you could always talk to her. She was great at giving advice, great at building your resume. As a mother of a child who has already been to college, Bonnie is that person you hope your child runs into in their career.”
While Hufford is no longer here to give out advice, those she advised were more than happy to create something in her name that could continue to support the journalism students she once loved and guided. Hyder said that, while she wasn’t a student in need of financial aid, the scholarships she received throughout college meant more than just dollar signs.
“Getting financial support means there’s people who have faith in your potential and that’s important and I would like for students to have that. I would like for students to see that getting support from this endowment means that people believe in them and that they can do great things in their life, because that’s the kind of thing Ms. Bonnie would say, and the kind of person Ms. Bonnie was,” Hyder said.
Click on the link if you would like to donate to the Bonnie Hufford Endowment.