Spartan News
Meet the Faculty:
By Ian Williams
Lateef Gibson is a professor at Norfolk State University (NSU) who takes the time to gift his students with a promising education and helps them achieve their dreams. He was born in Miami, Florida, but was raised in Downtown Newport News, Virginia. He had a passion for Hip Hop culture and b-boy dancing at a young age, which influenced him to pursue a life in music.
"I was basically embedded in music, so I started out as a b-boy dancer. I moved from that into DJing, any and everything dealing with music at that time I was involved in," Gibson said.
In high school, he worked for the Newport News Public Schools Channel and took a radio communications course to improve his skills as a DJ. However, the study was focused on developing radio personalities. It was hard for Gibson to find out his path in music would not achieve any merit in the course, which led him to look elsewhere. He had friends such as Shaheem Reid, who used to shoot music videos within the television program. After a while, he grew a passion for television and transitioned into telecommunications. This was when his future in communications began to come to fruition.
He became a student at NSU in 1995. While at the university, he studied communications and ran a music video program as an undergrad, earning his degree in 1999. Afterward, he worked at WAVY-TV from 2000 to 2002 as a Production Assistant while simultaneously working at NSU on a Title 3 Grant, assisting in the communications department and helping professors teach classes. Lateef committed to a full-time role at NSU under the grant, but the position was not renewed shortly after accepting.
"When I came on, it only had two years left," Gibson said. "What I was told was, 'typically, this grant roles over for an additional five years.' Then, when it was time for the grant to be renewed, they decided to go in a different direction with the grant. So my position was phased out."
Gibson was laid off for ten months shortly after getting engaged. He was also running his own business (LG Studios) and co-owning a store (The Shop) in Downtown Newport News. Although he had struggles accommodating the wedding, balancing his finances, and working in a time that created "a lot of pressure," he overcame it. Through prayer, tears, hard work, and support, he accepted another full-time position at NSU. Lateef mentioned that he did not expect to become a teacher.
"It wasn't something I had my heart and mindset out to do; it was just something that other people saw in me that I did not see in myself, and
I followed through with it," GIbson said
Gibson has been a professor at NSU since 2010. Helping Spartans gain a level of success has been his favorite part of teaching. He has taught students such as Iisha Scott, who achieved her dream of becoming an award-winning meteorologist. He also taught Joe Cook to accomplish his dream as a sports anchor.
Today, Cook is the Sports Director for 16 WAPT Sports.
"It's not about knowing a lot of people. It's about knowing the right people," Gibson said. "My bit of advice is to learn how to properly network, and don't do it in the sense of shooting someone a text or shooting someone an email. Learn how to actually have a conversation with an individual and network with that person till the point where yall both see the value in each other."
Gibson still indulges in working in his passion for music through his side business, LG Studios. It is a fully functioning multimedia company specializing in photography and print graphics. The company creates items from business cards to album covers and shoots videos.
13
Lateef Gibson : The Gift of Spartan Broadcasting