By Rebecca Renshaw

What can someone do with a degree in English literature? Plenty, and SIU alumnus Jim Hood is the perfect example.

Hood’s degree propelled him into a successful career in the news and information industry.

“When you study and research literature, you learn how to condense a whole lot of information down to the essence,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s impossible to go wrong studying English literature. If you get a real base studying and researching literature, you can go out and do anything.”

Hood ’69 and his wife recently established the James R. and Joan Lisante Hood Fund for New Media Technology with a $30,000 gift. In 2020, the James R. and Joan Lisante Hood Endowed Scholarship for Creative Nonfiction will be created with an additional $40,000 contribution.

SIU offers inspiration, experience

John Gardner was Hood’s favorite professor. Gardner had built a reputation as a rebel in the field of medieval studies, specifically in the study of Geoffrey Chaucer.

“I remember Gardner reading ‘Canterbury Tales’ to my class. He would read it line by line and explain it in middle English,” Hood said. “It was as much anthropology as English literature. Gardner transformed it from a study of old bones into a study of beautiful poetry and fiction.”

While a student at SIU, Hood gravitated toward local news and spent most of his time as a radio reporter and freelance correspondent covering the social upheavals of the 1960s. He served as the news director of WSIU radio, covering civil rights and anti-Vietnam War activities. Hood also worked at WINI in Murphysboro and WJPF in Herrin.

“I remember finishing up the 2 p.m. news at WJPF when the phone rang,” he said. “A guy asked if I was the one who just delivered the news, and when I said that I had, he offered me a job at a radio station in Phoenix. After graduation, I packed my bags and went to Phoenix.”

Hood also regularly sat in on classes taught by Buckminster Fuller. He credits Fuller, in part, for his entrepreneurial spirit.

“I never forgot what I learned at SIU,” he said. “Fuller taught me about design, how to look at problems, and then how to think outside the box to solve those problems.”

Bridging the gap

Hood worked for 14 years as an editor and executive for Associated Press outlets across the country. His knack for solving problems coupled with his technical skills pushed him to start several startup companies, such as Zap News and Consumer Affairs.

“I’m the guy you can blame for consumers who won’t buy anything until they read the reviews,” Hood said.

Hood, now semi-retired, lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and runs Fairfax News.

“Basically, it’s my personal hobby. We cover Washington, D.C., and do stories on cops and robbers – that kind of thing.”

By giving to SIU’s creative writing program, he hopes to help bridge the gap between creative writing and technology.

“Sometimes people with a technical bent don’t know how to express themselves, and literary types are hopeless when it comes to technical stuff,” Hood said. “It’s my hope that by implementing new media projects using technology, it will help one or two starving English majors.”

Hood credits SIU with introducing him to some of the brightest people he ever met.

“I’ve always felt obligated to give back to SIU. It helps diverse students and attracts students from other countries. It also helps to lift up students from inner cities like East St. Louis and Chicago,” he said. “I think big universities like SIU need the benefits of philanthropy much more than private institutions.”

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By Rebecca Renshaw

Morris Library has worked with the SIU Foundation to transfer $1 million from the Carus Mineral Trust to create the new Alwin C. Carus Endowment.

John Pollitz, dean of library affairs says the relationship the library has with the benevolent Carus family has been long standing.

“The Carus family has been a valued supporter of the Morris Library and the Special Collections Research Center for over forty years. They have entrusted SIUC with the preservation and promotion of the complete papers of the Open Court Publishing Company. By creating this endowed chair, they have moved our relationship to the next level.”

To read the full press release and learn more about the Carus family and their commitment to science, religion and philosophy, click here. To support SIU’s Morris Library, click here.

Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will honor a benevolent family by establishing the new Alwin C. Carus Endowment. The library’s leadership recently worked to the SIU Foundation to transfer $1 million from the Carus Mineral Trust to create the endowment. It will support archival work and a future endowed chair, the Alwin C. Carus Archivist and Professor of Philosophy, all fully funded by the revenue from the trust.

The Carus family’s relationship with the library is longstanding. Alwin Carus’ grandfather Edward Hegeler and his father, Paul Carus, founded the Open Court Publishing Company in La Salle, Illinois, in 1887. It was one of the first academic presses in the country without a university affiliation.

In the 1960s, Alwin and other surviving family members connected with SIU’s Morris Library, donating materials from the publishing company. The collection of manuscripts, books and other materials is one of the largest in the library’s Special Collections Research Center. It includes subjects focused on religion, science and philosophy, and it has an international reputation that draws people from around the world.

When Alwin Carus died in 2004, Morris Library also received $450,000 from a mineral trust in the family’s name. Every year since, the library has received an additional $150,000.

“Thanks to the generosity of the Carus family and the work of our Special Collections team, for many years we have developed our archival collections and assisted students and professionals locally and around the world,” said John Pollitz, dean of library affairs. “The establishment of the endowment is a win-win, in that it sets up the library into the future to continue its work while simultaneously honoring the original donor, Alwin C. Carus, and his final wishes.”

SIU Chancellor Austin Lane added that the future creation of an endowed chair is significant.

“Endowed chairs help us attract or retain outstanding faculty who are leaders in their fields,” Lane said. “We are deeply grateful to the Carus family, past and present, for helping us preserve and maintain our valuable, historical special collections.”

The youngest son of philosopher Paul Carus, Alwin C. Carus shared his father’s interests in history, archeology and astronomy. Alwin was born in 1901 in La Salle. He majored in chemistry and physics at the University of Chicago, worked in the research laboratory of the Carus Chemical Company and owned farms and ranches in the Badlands of North Dakota, western Minnesota, eastern Montana and the Peace River Valley of Alberta. He traveled to Iraq and Turkey in the 1950s to visit ancient archeological sites and joined several professional astronomical expeditions for observing solar eclipses.

“This particular endowment supports the Open Court collection, which, together with the John Dewey Papers, highlights our strengths in American philosophy,” Pollitz said. “SIU has, in past years, been celebrated as one of the top-tier leaders of this discipline, and the endowment helps to revitalize a commitment to this identifying feature of the university.”

The endowment will support an archivist for the Open Court Publishing Company records and its related collections, as well as other collections in philosophy. The position will also report on the activities and accomplishments with the Open Court Publishing Company records, the Alwin C. Carus Papers, Hegeler-Carus Family Papers and other relevant collections.

Tena Bennett, the director at the SIU Student Center, home to the Saluki Food Pantry, recently received a $5,000 donation from alumnus Scott Moller ‘85. Bennett says that since March, they have given 1,000 emergency food bags to students in need and that this donation will go a long way to continue supporting this important initiative.

“The Saluki Food Pantry is 100 percent funded by private donations and we rely on those funds to purchase supplies and keep the doors to the pantry open,” said Bennett.

Moller is committed to solving hunger insecurity and contributes his time and donations to several food pantries in Illinois.

“Students here really need the help, especially in this time of living through a pandemic,” said Moller. He estimates his gift will provide 200 food bags to students who find themselves in need.

Moller, a member of the SIU Alumni Association and SIU Foundation boards, is encouraged by the efforts of the Leadership Development Program (LDP). The RSO recently did a food drive in front of the Student Center on October 15 and received over 630 food items that they donated to the food pantry. Bruce DeRuntz, professor of technology who leads the LDP, said the program truly transforms these students into leaders who give back to the community.

“SIU has a tradition of giving back and I am proud of the LDP students who donate their time and effort to help their fellow Salukis,” said DeRuntz.

If you would like to learn how you can give to the Saluki Food Pantry, learn more here: https://studentcenter.siu.edu/services/saluki-food-pantry.php