Insightful, charismatic, humorous – three words that describe the political expert that High Point University students call their professor.
His name is Dr. Brandon Lenoir, one of HPU’s newest professors in the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, but you’d never know he’s new by his interaction with his students. They hang onto his every word, lean forward when he speaks and raise their hands at every chance to answer a question.
They want to know and learn about the political world, and Lenoir helps them achieve that.
Experience that Goes Beyond the Classroom
Lenoir is a pro in his field. He worked as a lobbyist, political campaign manager and political consultant. After that, he pursued a career in broadcasting and worked as a political reporter and anchor for nearly eight years before entering the world of academia.
“I think when the students realize that I have done what I am talking about, it improves my credibility in their eyes,” says Lenoir, political communication and political science professor. “I’m not just talking about something that I have read; I am talking about something that I did and how it applies to what they are learning.”
Lenoir continues to keep his hands in different aspects of politics so he is able to get his students involved outside of the classroom. He does television news segments to offer insight on political topics, consults with political campaigns and contracts with advocacy groups to help them develop their lobbying strategies. And with that, he opens many doors for his students to get involved in the political world, outside of what they learn in a text book. Because he is not just teaching; he is giving them the real-world, tangible experience that they need to pursue a career anywhere within the political realm.
“The thrill that I got out of reporting, I would take that and multiply it by 100 when it comes to teaching,” says Lenoir. “I love getting my students hooked on a topic and getting them to start thinking about it and talking about it. When they come to me and talk about something that they read or something that they saw on the news and tie it back into the lecture, it gives me chills and I love it.”
New Master’s Degree in Political Communication
Lenoir is currently developing a political communication master’s degree track in the strategic communications program at HPU that will launch in fall 2016. The program will allow students to pursue a career in virtually any part of the political spectrum. They will learn how to develop the strategy for a lobbying campaign, how to build the strategy for a political campaign, and how to be crisis managers, just to name a few.
“This program is going to be one of a kind,” says Lenoir. “No other school currently offers a political communication track like this. I am able to take my background and apply it to the new master’s degree program from my experience with applied politics, campaign management and political reporting.”
This degree will set the bar for political programs everywhere. And this is just what Lenoir says aspiring political gurus need. He wishes a program like this existed when he was going through school.
“I am crafting a program that I would have loved when I was a student,” says Lenoir. “I want to take my knowledge and allow my students to apply it in the real world so they can contribute to the political process. I needed to go to a university that supported student involvement, rolling up their sleeves and emerging into that political world during their time at college, and that’s why HPU is a great fit for me. This is why I am a professor.”