Education leader retiring from FAMU 

Dr. Valerie White, one of the nation’s leading journalism educators, is leaving her post later this year at Florida A & M University, after 23 years in service to the institution, education colleagues say.White, who headed the Black College Communications Association (BCCA) for more than 10 years before its decline earlier this century, helped marshal the campus newspaper through several traumatic years, including the tragic death of the university’s drum major at the hands of fellow band members in what was described as a hazing incident on a chartered bus trip to perform at a neighboring college football game.The incident, which the newspaper covered intensely, prompted the departure of the band director, university president and the state prosecution of several marching band members.White, who stood firm in defense of the paper’s persistent reporting, declined to illuminate about word among colleagues of her forthcoming departure from the journalism leadership ranks.During her tenure of leading the BCCA, White held journalism conferences in Nashville on the campus of Tennessee State University, in Birmingham, in Norfolk, Virginia and in Tallahassee at FAMU.In the process, she helped open the eyes of many college teachers to the opportunities of journalism for students with aspirations to pursue...