LZ Granderson returns to WMU to inspire next generation of journalists

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Life has come full circle for LZ Granderson: graduating from Western Michigan University, achieving an award-winning career as a journalist and then returning this fall as a visiting scholar in the School of Communication.

“I’m just really excited to be back in front of students,” says Granderson. “I’ve taught at USC, Northwestern and University of Chicago, but this is different because it’s home. It only makes sense to invest in the people who invested in me first.” 

Granderson is teaching two courses on Western's Main Campus: one focused on sports journalism and one on refining one’s voice as an opinion writer. He also hopes to raise awareness that the field of journalism is viable and admirable.

“I hope students will get a road map, with the understanding that the map as written on a page is constantly changed by technology, the economy and methods of consuming media,” says Granderson. “What we do is what was called upon us by the forefathers. While they had issues, they understood the importance of the press to hold elected officials accountable and ensure people knew they had a voice.” 

Granderson, a dancer in middle school and high school, first came to Western while participating in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival during his senior year. He and another dancer choreographed a piece that was accepted into the gala. The dance department offered him a scholarship for his first year of college. The theater department offered another in his second year, and ultimately Granderson graduated with a major in interpersonal communications and a minor in journalism. 

With the birth of his son Isaiah on commencement day, Granderson was motivated to find immediate employment. While he was grateful to be able to support his family making cold calls to businesses as an employee at a uniform rental company, it quickly clarified what he didn’t want to do with his life. 

When Granderson told his boss he planned to pursue graduate school, and his boss countered with the opportunity to become assistant manager, he thought, “that sounds awful,” and enrolled at Grand Valley State University to study higher education administration. Through the recommendation of a GVSU advisor, Granderson took a job as the higher education reporter at the Grand Rapids Press and got his first real taste of national politics during the Bush vs. Gore election in 2000. Reporting from Cornerstone University, he covered Bush’s first public appearance after his drunk driving conviction became public. 

“It was my first time in that environment—it was intoxicating,” says Granderson. “It was super-duper exciting and challenging. Writing a front page story, surrounded by national reporters—I was a local reporter covering a beat, and falling in my lap was a national story with White House implications.” 

After doing some home design writing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he joined the staff of ESPN during LeBron James’ rookie year. His first piece appeared in an issue with James on the cover. 

Starting as an editor for ESPN’s magazine, over the next 17 years Granderson became a columnist for Page 2, co-hosted SportsNation radio shows, covered Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and created and produced online shows in the early days of streaming. He was also on the team that developed ESPN’s first Employee Resource Group. 

“Being openly gay presented challenges,” says Granderson. 

His presence at ESPN challenged assumptions about queer people in sports, and he was proud to push the network to make changes to embrace the LGBTQ+ community. Photos of his 2016 marriage to Steve Huesing, an executive at Sprouts Farmers Market, were the first same-sex wedding pictures ESPN ever broadcasted. 

Currently, Granderson contributes to ABC News and writes columns for the Los Angeles Times. He hosts ABC’s first LGBTQ-focused podcast, “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson,” for which he is also the producer. In the podcast, Granderson draws from his own lived experience as a gay, Black father to host thought-provoking, poignant and engaging conversations with some of the most influential and inspirational people in the LGBTQ+ community. 

His role at the L.A. Times, sports and culture columnist, was created specifically for him in 2019—although, “I had worked at the intersection of sports and culture all my life, so the work has always been there.” 

After the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, Granderson became an op-ed columnist focused on culture, saying, “I wanted to dive into all the tentacles of a crime so horrible.” 

Now living in Texas, Granderson and Huesing continue to challenge themselves and to model the opportunities available to son Isaiah, who works as a TV producer for ABC News, and as a model and a consultant. 

Granderson recently had a chance to attend the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Birmingham, Alabama—one he has frequented annually since his introduction to it as a WMU student—and was thrilled to have Isaiah attend with him for the first time. 

He was nominated for two awards at NABJ this year. His other accolades include an Emmy Award, as well as the 2023 Excellence in Column Writing Award, from NLGJA (The Association of LGBTQ Journalists). 

Granderson looks back warmly on his time in Kalamazoo. 

Writing for the Western Herald as the men’s basketball beat reporter and a political columnist, as well as hosting a radio show on WIDR, he gained skills that benefited him for decades to come. As a stringer for the Kalamazoo Gazette, he remembers covering Ani DiFranco at the Kalamazoo State Theatre and eating at the Blue Dolphin for breakfast. 

“I had such fond memories that I came back to get married here.” 

He is quick to point out that his Western experience really prepared him for his career. 

“You say certain universities and people’s ears perk up. I’m happy to say I’m living proof that’s not the only path,” he says. “I’ve gone to the White House and talked with Dr. Fauci and Pete Buttigieg. I have no lack. I’ve hosted national TV and radio—I did that all as a WMU graduate. It’s possible. I just want to make sure I do good quality work and set a good example for my son and communities.” 

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