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The Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame honors Vanderbilt University alumni
who have distinguished themselves through a variety of careers and have made significant
contributions as staff members of the university’s student media. Induction into the
Hall of Fame is the highest honor Vanderbilt Student Communications and
alumni of student media at Vanderbilt can bestow
on former student journalists.

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Sen. Alexander, who earned his bachelor’s degree in 1962, majored in Latin American Studies.
He was a reporter and news editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper. The Maryville, Tenn.,
native is a former two-term governor of Tennessee, U.S. secretary of education, University of Tennessee
president and professor at Harvard’s School of Government. He earned his J.D. at New York University
Law School. In private life, he helped found the nation’s largest provider of worksite
day care, Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.

Bayless, who grew up in Oklahoma City, Okla., attended Vanderbilt on the prestigious
Grantland Rice Scholarship. The 1974 graduate covered sports for The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper
and majored in English and history. Bayless developed a national reputation as a sports writer for
the Miami Herald and Los Angeles Times. He wrote three books chronicling different eras of the Dallas Cowboys and
was a prominent sports columnist in Dallas, Chicago and San Jose before being hired full time as a commentator by
ESPN for programs like 1st and 10 and SportsCenter.

Blount, a Grantland Rice Scholarship recipient, came to Vanderbilt from Decatur, Ga., where he was editor
of his high school newspaper. He majored in English and began working for The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper
after becoming friends with Lamar Alexander and other student journalists. Blount became editor before graduating in 1963.
He is a prolific writer and humorist who has authored 21 books. He’s a columnist for The Oxford American,
contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly, and panelist for NPR’s Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me.

Elson, a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., majored in English at Vanderbilt. She was elected the first post-World War II
woman editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper. She worked at the Nashville Banner the spring of her senior year
in 1974 before graduating magna cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa. She reported for the two Dallas newspapers before moving to the
Chicago Tribune, where she held a variety of positions, including associate managing editor/features. At the Tribune,
she edited a series about the Human Genome Project that won a Pulitzer Prize for exploratory journalism.
Elson became managing editor of Tribune Media Services, the syndication and
licensing division of Tribune Co., in 2004.

Feist, who majored in political science at Vanderbilt, began volunteering for The Vanderbilt Hustler
student newspaper his first day on campus. Feist, who was born in Trinidad, hosted Viewpoint,
a campus public affairs/talk program that aired on Nashville cable. He graduated magna cum laude and joined CNN
full-time in 1991. He was founding executive producer of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Feist was named political director
and senior executive producer of political coverage during the 2008 presidential election. In January 2009 he became
CNN’s vice president of Washington-based programming. Feist earned his law degree
from Georgetown University Law Center.

For additional information about the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame
or to nominate a candidate for future Hall of Fame Classes,
please contact Chris Carroll.

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