Written by Caleb Chunn // Photo by Balazs Balassa
A new Media Center manager began settling into the position last week. Jessa Morris has filled the role that had been left vacant several weeks prior.
The Media Center is an extension of Brackett Library, so library staff worked to find someone to replace the previous manager, Debbie Stewart, who left the center in late January.
Prior to Morris’ entrance into the role, student workers in the Media Center had been left without a boss but felt confident in the training they had through Stewart. Senior Emma Brantley had worked at the center for a few years before Stewart moved on from her position.
“[Stewart] sent us a text saying that she would be leaving in about a month, which was kind of shocking to all of us,” Brantley said. “We didn’t see it coming. But there was definitely some comfort in knowing that she had kind of set us up fairly well to leave us and have us run the Media Center on our own.”
While the workers had no official boss at the time, library staff made it a point to keep the student workers informed on the process of finding a replacement. Junior Morgan Mahan works in the Media Center and spoke on the efforts to find a new manager.
“Everything [was] running smoothly for the most part,” Mahan said.
For the new manager, the Media Center was not an unfamiliar place, as she was a student worker there from 2017 to 2020.
“I have experience in the Media Center, so for me, it was just picking back up in a different role,” Morris said. “I feel like I’ve just kind of come back home and just have to get settled back in this new position.”
As with any transition in leadership, changes are inevitable, but Morris’ goal is to stay true to the Media Center’s clientele and only make changes that are beneficial to all who visit the Media Center.
“I am open to changing anything that needs to be changed for the benefit of our students, staff and faculty, and the people of the community because that’s who we serve and that’s the order that we serve,” Morris said. “So it’s mainly about the students. So whatever the students need, I’m willing to try and fix it for them.”
