SAN MARCOS, Texas — There are history makers amongst us, and Texas State University Dean of College of Fine Arts and Communication and Associate Professor Dr. Laurie Fluker is one of them.
"We have a purpose in our lives and our life stories make a difference, alright," Fluker said as she lectured. "They are the building blocks of knowledge and the foundation of memory and learning."
Fluker's story encompasses that and more.
In 1989, Texas State University – Southwest Texas State University at the time – hired Fluker as a professor in the Department of Journalism to teach electronic media. Although it had been 25 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate based on race for hiring, the university confirmed Fluker was the third Black woman to be hired as faculty at Texas State.
"At the time that I was hired here, and that was 1989, the number of African-American professors, I think you could add them all on one hand," Fluker said. "It was an interesting environment."
The Houston native said she was accustomed to being "the only one" in the room.
"The assumption is that if you're here and you're one of only a handful, you're here to meet a quota," Fluker said. "So, certainly, there may have been some of that along the way. Some assumptions that were made that I'm only here because I'm female and I'm Black."
Fluker's resume – proudly displayed in her office – proves otherwise.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in History and English at Texas-based Wiley College. She also earned a Master's of Fine Arts for Broadcast Journalism from Southern Methodist University and a Doctorate in Philosophy for Radio, Television and Film from The University of Texas at Austin.
"If you'll notice on the Wiley College degree, my father signed my degree because he was president of a college at the time," Fluker said.
Wiley is a historically Black college in East Texas where Fluker started the mass communication program – the same college where her father and grandfather earned degrees.
"My grandfather was the son of a slave," Fluker said. "So he was one of the first Blacks in the state of Texas to get a degree and get a teaching certificate."
Paving the way through education is her family's way.
"This is my family," Fluker said. "I've got twins and an oldest son. These two are double graduates of Texas State."
Fluker has been married for 47 years.
"This is one of the largest honors that Texas State gives, and it was one of my first ... The Teaching Award of Honor," she said.
According to Texas State, Fluker is the first Black person to receive the Alumni Teaching Award and the first African American named a Presidential Fellow. In addition, Fluker was chosen as a National Fellow by all five professional broadcasting associations that offer fellowships to outstanding broadcasting professors.
Fluker was also the first in the Department of Mass Communication to be chosen by students as an outstanding professor for six years. Among her long list of awards and honors, Fluker said the ones the students chose mean the most.
"My students are some of the best that I could ever ask for," Fluker said. "And that's what makes this such an enjoyable occupation for me is that every Tuesday, I don't need an alarm clock. I wake up on my own."
Currently, Fluker is the associate dean of Texas State's College of Fine Arts and Communication. The tenured associate professor vibrantly teaches hundreds of mass communication students every semester.
PHOTOS: Dr. Laurie Fluker, one of Texas State's first Black female professors
"I'm in a movie with Denzel. You should know that 'Courage Under Fire' was filmed here in Austin," Fluker joked as she lectured. "If he had given me a second look, I was going to leave my husband. [I] never had to worry about it. He did not."
Fluker said she has spent more than 35 years at Texas State, ensuring her students feel seen, heard and prepared.
So if you want to know what makes a great story, talk to the woman living one.
Black professors at Texas State before Dr. Fluker
Dr. Burnadine L. Lewis joined the Southwest Texas Home Economics faculty in 1968, making her the first Black professor at the university, as far as university officials know. Her husband, Dr. Roscoe W. Lewis, joined the Agricultural faculty in 1969, making him the first Black male professor at Texas State.
Dr. Joni Charles started her employment in 1984 as an associate professor in the Department of English just a few years before Fluker joined in 1989.