After spending 30 years working in the news industry, now Mississippi State University alumnus Sid Salter is the one in the news.
The MSU Alumni Association named Salter, a syndicated columnist and Perspective Editor of The Clarion-Ledger Alumnus of the Year on Jan. 23.
“The National Alumnus of the Year award is to recognize the outstanding alumni out there for their accomplishments and contributions to MSU,” said Alumni Association executive director John Correro.
Salter, a 1988 political science graduate, said he feels that alumni have a responsibility to give back to the institution.
“While I try to give back my time whenever possible, I feel as though State’s done a whole lot more for me then I’ve ever been able to do for it,” Salter said.
Salter said planned to go to law school until taking Howard Ball’s constitutional law class.
“When I learned to write about politics in Dr. Ball’s class I knew I wanted to be in journalism,” Salter said.
Salter began writing his syndicated political column 21 years ago, and it now appears in 52 Mississippi newspapers.
MSU graduate Koby Padgett said he enjoys reading his fellow alumnus’s columns.
“Sid Salter brings a great viewpoint to Mississippi politics,” Padgett said. “He is one of the best political writers in the state by far.”
Senior Richard Groves agreed that Salter is a very talented journalist.
“His ideas are very well thought out,” Groves said. “He does his homework.”
Salter received the Mississippi Press Association’s J. Oliver Emmerich Editorial Excellence Award in 1986 and again in 1994. Salter is the only weekly editor to receive the honor more than once.
Salter said that despite all of the plaques and awards on his wall, being named MSU Alumnus of the Year will always have a special place in his heart.
“Nothing ever has and nothing ever will mean as much to me as that did,” Salter said.
Salter accepted the award on behalf of his family.
“My mom and dad worked their way through school,” Salter explained. “They bettered themselves by going to State.”
Salter said his two sisters also attended MSU.
“It’s been a family affair,” Salter said.
Salter’s wife of 22 years, the former Paula Jones, and their 18-year-old daughter Kate have also been a major part of his life.
With Paula an Ole Miss graduate and Sid a Mississippi State graduate, Salter said that they knew it would be unavoidable that Kate’s college decision would disappoint one of them.
Kate will be a freshman at Ole Miss in the fall.
“Although I wanted her to go to State, I will support her,” Salter said. “She’s a smart girl, and I’m proud of her.”
Salter said that there have been hard times in their lives along with the good times. His wife, Paula, has multiple sclerosis and has been an invalid for a decade.
“There have been some bumps in the road, but one thing that my profession has done is to show me that I don’t have to look very far to see people in even worse situations,” Salter said.
Salter added that he is lucky enough to have two places he can call home: one with his family and one at MSU.
“Robert Frost described it by saying ‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,'” Salter said. “Mississippi State has always taken me in.”