Contact: Georgia Clarke

STARKVILLE, Miss.--For the second time in a publication history that began in 1884, Mississippi State's student newspaper is being led by a Jackson resident who can claim a significant "first."

Lacretia R. Wimbley recently became The Reflector's first African American editor-in-chief. A junior communication/journalism major, she is a Provine High School graduate.

During the university's 1969-70 school year, Janna Pepper became the twice-weekly publication's first female editor. Now Janna Pepper Avalon, she is the retired editor of Mississippi Catholic, the official newspaper of the church's Mississippi Diocese.

Distributed free each Tuesday and Friday throughout campus and Starkville, The Reflector has a circulation of 10,000.

Wimbley began working with the newspaper as a writer in the fall of 2013. The following spring, she was promoted to news editor. Among honors received over the years, she won first place for best news writing and third place in best front page design at the Mississippi Press Association's 2014-15 Better Newspaper Contest student competition. Additionally, she finished among the top five for best newspaper page layout and design and among the top 10 for best special event reporting/editing at the 2014-15 Southeast Journalism Conference.

At the campus paper's 2014-15 awards banquet held earlier this month, she was selected by outgoing editor Emma Crawford for the Adam C. Kazery Editor of the Year, the top annual staff-member recognition.

After being selected for the editorship by MSU's Student Publications Committee, Wimbley named her editorial staff for the coming school year. They include (by hometown):

JACKSON--Managing Editor Nia Wilson, a junior communication/journalism major.

MERIDIAN--Photography Editor Sarah Story, a senior educational psychology major.

NEW ORLEANS, La.--Copy Editor Ashley Brewer, a senior geosciences/broadcast meteorology major.

PEARL--Opinion Editor Bailey McDaniel, a freshman criminology major.

STARKVILLE--News Editor Taylor Bowden, a junior communication/journalism major; Life Editor Noor Mujahid, a senior English major; and Multimedia Editor Bek Yake, a junior biological sciences major.

WAYNESBORO--Sports Editor Anthony McDougle, a senior communication/journalism major.

In addition to print editions, The Reflector may be read at www.reflector-online.com, facebook.com/reflectoronline, instagram.com/reflectoronline and twitter.com/reflectoronline.

MSU, the Magnolia State's flagship research university, is online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.