1994 Sou'Wester Editor John Guzzardo

by Sabrina Hagler, Editor In Chief

How listening to the voice of GSW has prepared me for life after college.

John Guzzardo was the Editor In Chief of the Sou’Wester from 1994-1996 and again in 2011. Presently and during those tenures, Mr. Guzzardo says that he has seen much change in GSW and the newspaper itself.

What years did you attend GSW and what was your major?

"I attended 1992-1997, then 2011 and finally 2016-2017. I majored in history which allowed me to have a lot of flexibility. My immediate predecessor was a nursing major and before her my very first editor, Kim Reid, the city attorney for Americus, was a political science major and that groomed her to be an attorney. History, for me, brought a researcher’s mindset. As a historian, you want to dig, you want to get all sides of the story. You want to learn what’s going on. There’s the journalism five Ws: who, what, where, when, and why. I like to add a H, which is the how. A good story is about the why but it’s also about the how. How did something happen, how did something evolve to that point.

Back in the mid 90s we had a controversy involving our homecoming election in 1996 and the question everyone was asking was “why is this happening?” My question was “how did it get to this point?” We learned that some of it honestly was the history of the school, so I began digging into the history. How Americus was one of the last towns in Georgia to desegregate in the 70s and how racial issues in Sumter county have been a raw nerve. One of the things that history afforded me was an opportunity in how to take my research skills and apply them. It also helped me to write better and as a historian you have to be able to communicate. It helped me to test the pulse of the student body and bear in mind that most of my staff were not history majors. I had a couple of English majors, two math majors, a couple of computer science majors, and a nursing major.”

What was your day-to-day life like?

“I was an on campus student so it was rather boring on weekends. When I wasn’t in class, I was at the newspaper office or meeting with administration officials about various things. One of my favorite events every year was homecoming. We had a whole section devoted to the week and I loved the pageantry that we had back then and the festivals. We also had an on-campus student week where we had all sorts of different things going on.”

What did the newspaper do for students at GSW?

“The main thing our newspaper did was inform and educate our student body. We were not a particularly big newspaper in terms of staff because we simply didn’t have the resources. However, we were always in the middle of a controversy, had some pretty interesting personalities, and our team was for a while pretty tight knit. Also keep in mind this was the mid 90s and there were a lot of politically active things going on at this time, especially with regards to race relations. We were in the middle of the action. I would say we were pretty damned scrappy for what we had to work with. I think what I loved the most about it was that the student body saw us as the “real” influencers - we may not have been decision makers, but we influenced many a decision in the mid 1990s.”

What changes have you seen since you graduated?

“Where do I begin? Let me start with the differences between 1997, when I left the first time. GSW is way different today than it was back in the mid 1990s and I think that’s a good thing in most ways, not so good in others.

President Weaver has continued the work former President Blanchard began years ago, and the results have been a campus which is now amazing. The most obvious change is all the new buildings. When I was there, the Education Building had just come online for the first time, and old Prance Hall (where the SSC now sits) was shut down and decisions were being made as to what to do with it. That’s just scratching the surface. Now as for 2017 to today, GSW has grown in terms of student population and engagement, the addition of a communication major is a huge win. The school is becoming more well known, and is developing a reputation for being out in front and ahead of the curve in many ways. I think President Weaver’s high-energy leadership has transformed the university in some serious ways.”

How did GSW and The Sou’Wester prepare you for life after college and how do you think they have shaped who you are today?

“Honestly, it helped me hone some skills which I can transfer to any line of work, including problem solving, time management, research, communication and marketing oneself. I also learned how to do graphic design at a much higher level and understood the impact of the internet and social media in everyday business.

I’m taking some time off from writing and the publishing world, but I still blog. I’ve written three books, one of them is in the process of being edited and two are published. One is called the 38 Day Education and the second is Change Rising, which is based on that homecoming election mess, and the next one will be called Racing Darkness which is based on the shooting that happened on campus back in 1985. My current role is as an executive assistant for a major cellphone retailer in Orlando.”

Do you have any advice for students?

“I could share a million different things, but they all come back to one overarching message - learn who you really are, even your dark side. Know yourself well enough to know when to make changes when needed, and to be able to adapt to times.”