Working Papers
Leadership
Rev. Becca Stevens: Servant Leader, Humanitarian, Impacting the Lives of Thousands
December 12, 2024
Rev. Becca Stevens is a highly respected entrepreneur, having gained notoriety through her life’s long work on a global level. Having experienced sexual abuse as a child, she has committed herself to helping those who have faced similar traumas and experiences. A Nashville, Tennessee, native, Rev. Stevens began her career working as a priest for St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel on Vanderbilt University’s campus. Shortly after, she began a nonprofit initiative to help women who are sexually exploited, trafficked, prostituted, and suffering from addiction get off the Nashville streets by providing them with shelter, food, and the help needed to overcome addiction. In addition to getting these women off the streets, Rev. Stevens provides them with a holistic recovery model that includes life-long learning skills and education to help them live a life away from the streets. During her 25+ year career in nonprofit, Rev. Stevens has raised over $75 million for justice enterprises, provided over 500 beds for women survivors, and established 13 nonprofits across the globe to include locations in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. She has written and published 12 books, and has been featured on PBS NewsHour, TEDTalks, and many other media outlets. Because of these successes, this research will demonstrate why Rev. Becca Stevens is a faithful servant leader who embodies active listening and emotional intelligence traits, falls under the idealized influence concept, and is a great humanitarian.
Ethics
Objective Sports Reporting: It's About Time!
March 12, 2025
Twentieth-century American culture experienced significant racial bias regarding news reporting, specifically sports reporting. Journalists used stereotypical terminology for describing athletes, with African Americans described more so for their physical strength and agility, while white Americans were described as intelligent and strategic. By only using the physical ability to describe African American athletes, journalists were establishing a pattern of reporting that contributed to a hegemonic culture and placed a negative stigma on African Americans. Based on the coherent theory of truth, many individuals of various ethnicities accepted these biases as part of a belief system, asserting the biases as truths. However, objective journalism should always be the standard for all news reporting, including sports reporting, set forth by the code of ethics all mass media professionals should follow. This study aims to determine whether objective sports reporting regarding race exists in today's contemporary culture or if old bias reporting is still practiced. A narrative analysis and image analysis were conducted on three geographical publications, national, state, and city, to determine if there is still a presence of stereotypical terminology for describing athletes, which are racial biases and opinions used for reporting on recent sports events. A literary review of empirical studies was also conducted to analyze research covering coherence theory, stereotypical terminology in sports reporting, unconscious learning, and objective writing in journalism.
Medium Theory & Face Negotiation Theory
This study is an exploratory look at workplace incivility by following the concepts of medium and face-negotiation theories. With the increased use of communication mediums in an organizational environment in recent years, research was conducted to determine if workplace incivility is on the rise. Through the high use of mediums, these devices create a blurred line between appropriate and what is not appropriate text when sent through digital platforms—allowing for a lack of accountability when sending negative and hostile comments. Mediums discussed include email and instant messaging, which are referred to as e-communications. Medium communication is compared to the traditional face-to-face communication that would typically occur in the workplace, especially between coworkers. The study examines if personality traits, such as aggressiveness, assertiveness, and high ego, contribute to workplace incivility. When workplace incivility occurs, the use of self-face may be put into practice to protect one’s reputation and correct the wrongful treatment of a coworker. Interview sessions were conducted with six volunteers from a high-volume production firm to discuss their experiences with e-communication practices versus face-to-face communication. The volunteers were a diverse group of men and women of varying age groups working in different firm divisions and hierarchies of the firm.