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| Mr. Kelechi Benet |
A face many students know all too well on the second floor of Crawford Communications is that of Mr. Kelechi Benet.
One of the pillars that keep the communications department thriving, Mr. Benet has been giving his best services to this department since he joined in 2017. He became a favorite in the halls of the communications building for not just students but faculty too.
His wise but funny demeanor makes him a memorable instructor. His lessons don't just stop at broadcasting and journalism, but also how to be ready for the big bad world after college. Aside from his love of teaching young adults to reach for the sky, he will not hesitate to share his love for film.
Q: Where are you from?
A: I am from South Carolina, and grew up in Greenville, SC.
Q: Did you attend college in South Carolina and did you go to school for mass communications?
A: Yes, I went to a small private Christian College in Greenville, North Greenville University and that's where I got my bachelor's in communications. Then I went to Virginia Beach and attended Regent University where I earned my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in film directing.
Q: What motivated you to become a mass comm instructor?
A: One of my favorite professors in grad school, Lorraine Wells, told me to weigh my options in the sense that earning a master's of fine arts is a terminal degree. I was actually just there to pursue a master's degree and then Regent created a master of fine arts degree in film and television directing. And with that terminal degree not only will you have the hands-on experience but you will also be able to take that hands-on experience and what you learned in the industry and then you can go into the classroom and that MFA degree opens the door for you to be able to teach at a university or college.
Q: Where you a part of the communications program when it first started?
A: No, I joined in 2017 and the program has been around for a long time before me.
Q: Do you see the communications program growing in the future and how?
A: Since my arrival into this program I've seen this program grow by leaps and bounds and with the addition to our faculty with Ms.Pryor arriving it seems like we took off into the galaxy in sense of all the things we're doing now that we haven't done before. I believe that we have a great program and that we are providing students with theory and the practical side of what it is going to take to be a professional in this industry.
Q: What is your favorite project that is happening within the communications program?
A: I would have to say BNN because if you go back a semester when we started this to now even that has grown by leaps and bounds. BNN is what I view as a legitimate news program where our students are doing real stories, reporters are doing real stories and anchors are talking about real stories that are relevant to the campus community as well as the surrounding community. Orangeburg is not really being represented as far as television news coverage, so we are able to have a platform that closes the gap between Charleston and Columbia on reporting news.
Q: What are some things you enjoy outside of being on campus and being Mr.Benet ?
A: I definitely like to hang out with my wife. That's number one. I enjoy watching film and when I watch I'm always dissecting the film. My passion is film making. I think I will always be a student of film. My favorite director is Spike Lee all the way back to "Do The Right Thing."
Q: Since filmmaking is your passion, have you made a film yet?
A: Keep dreaming, since graduating from grad school in 2009 and I've written movie scripts, but it may take you 10 years for that script to be recognized and shot into a movie. So, in other words, I'm still hopeful of that first film.
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