ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Shayla Reaves (‘02) adds “Author” to Her List of Career Accomplishments

Shayla Reaves is known as many things: journalist, networker, crafter, author—just to name a few. Before she was any of this, though, she was a Bruin, and in the 20+ years since her time at USJ, she has gone on to make her mark on the world.

A 2006 graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Shayla was named the top broadcast student in her graduating class. She received the university’s prestigious Gary Cummings Memorial Award, a selection made by faculty members and awarded to seniors who excelled in undergraduate broadcast journalism courses. While attending Northwestern, Shayla led the university’s student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists to its first-ever national “Student Chapter of the Year” title in 2005.

Shayla has worked as a broadcast journalist across the country, including Louisville, Kentucky; Columbus, Ohio; Tampa, Florida; Greenville, North Carolina; and currently, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wherever she is, Shayla participates in numerous community activities and enjoys speaking with students at local high schools and universities as well as mentoring broadcast journalism students.

Shayla also enjoys repurposing old items and creating new treasures in her free time. In 2018, she developed a weekly web series called “Let’s Craft” and produced half hour specials for television and web. She edits, writes, voices and (mostly) shoots the series and specials herself.

And now, she is an author, a dream long in the making. Just one year after graduating from USJ, Shayla was selected as the winner of Northwestern University’s “Written Expression Competition” in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 2003, she performed her original piece, “Echo In the Distance” at Pick Staiger Concert Hall as a college freshman. The guest speaker, Dr. Cornel West, was so impressed by her presentation that he asked if he could use the line “People are people, not color-coated crimes” in one of his speeches.

Twenty years later, Shayla is excited to memorialize this piece in an illustrated children’s book that debuted in June 2023. “Echo In the Distance,” written under the pen name Shayla Michelle, is a moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream shared from the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. Millions watched as the civil rights leader delivered his hope for the future, his dream for what America could be. Decades later, the iconic “I Have A Dream” speech has continued to transcend time. It turns 60 years old in 2023. “Echo In the Distance” reflects on the speech, the history that followed, and serves as a reminder that everyone can play a role in realizing the dream first shared in 1963.

Accomplished? Very. Engaged? Extremely. But above all, Shayla Reaves is inspiring. She reminds us all that we have gifts to embrace and goals to achieve. As she says, “it’s not too late. Dreams can come true. It starts with you.”