Dr. Elayne Hayes-Anthony, a former journalist and longtime educator, has passed away. She was 76 years old.
Hayes-Anthony’s passing was confirmed by multiple sources with people across the Jackson metro and other parts of Mississippi going to social media to express their condolences on Thursday morning.
After graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University, Hayes-Anthony started her career as an intern at WJTV before becoming the Jackson-based TV station’s first Black female news anchor. She was an anchor for four years before returning to school to obtain a doctorate in organizational communication and broadcast law from Southern Illinois University.
She stayed in education, working as an assistant superintendent of public information for Jackson Public Schools and as a spokesperson for the Jackson School Board before accepting a position at Belhaven University. While at Belhaven, she was a professor and later chair of the Department of Communications. Hayes-Anthony returned to her alma mater, Jackson State, in 2015 as a professor and chair of the HBCU’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies.
In 2023, she took on the role of interim president at Jackson State and held the position until former president Marcus Thompson was selected for the job. Following that, Hayes-Anthony again made history and became the first Black woman hired to lead the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters.
A native of Jackson and graduate of Jim Hill High School, Hayes-Anthony earned numerous accolades across her career in both academic and civic involvement, including receiving the 2014 Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher Award and 2023 Woman of the Year award from the Jackson Advocate.
Neither a cause of death not funeral announcements had been released at the time of publication.