New editor-in-chief Lauren Jefferson (right) with Bonnie Price Lofton (Photo by Jon Styer)
Lauren Jefferson has been named EMU’s editor-in-chief, in charge of news stories and two magazines, Crossroads, the university’s periodical, and Peacebuilder for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (emu.edu/peacebuilder).
“EMU will be served well by Lauren’s extensive journalistic accomplishments and educational experiences,” says Andrea Schrock Wenger ’86, director of marketing and communications. “I especially appreciate her passion for EMU’s core values of peacebuilding, cross-cultural understanding, and sustainability.”
Jefferson spent six years as a reporter and an editor with the North Fork Journal, Shenandoah Journal, and Northern Augusta Journal, earning seven Virginia Press Association awards for page design, general make-up, feature writing, investigative reporting and photography. In the educational field, she’s taught English and English language learners in middle school, high school and university settings.
A native of California, Jefferson earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She also has a master’s degree in modern literature from the University of York in Britain. She is enrolled in the master’s in education program at James Madison University, focusing on equity and cultural diversity.
Jefferson’s writings include successful grant proposals, publicity materials, educational workshop materials, and fundraising appeals for such organizations as the Dayton (VA) Police Department, the Sadie Rose Foundation, and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society.
A former competitive distance and trail runner, Jefferson has coached track and cross country at middle and high schools for 14 years. She’s been the media relations director for the Valley Baseball League and Hall of Fame historian for the Rockingham County Baseball League (RCBL). An advocate for girls and women in sports, Jefferson is the only woman to play in the RCBL. She’s directed fundraising races for two charitable groups.
Jefferson is a member of St. Michael’s Church of Christ located south of Harrisonburg in Bridgewater.
Jefferson is the successor to Bonnie Price Lofton, MA ’04 (conflict transformation), who resigned in the spring to pursue a book-writing project. Lofton was the founding editor of Peacebuilder in 2005. She began editing Crossroads in 2006, focusing each issue on a theme and featuring dozens of alumni related to that theme.