Humphrey Regis has a voice that is not easily forgotten. His words are crisp, every syllable is pronounced as intended, and each spoken word seems to possess a space of its own, like a book slotted into its designated place on a shelf.
Any listener will know that he is not a native of these parts, and that’s because this new member of the Department of Mass Communications is a native of the small Caribbean island of St. Lucia, an independent state within the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Although he has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades, Regis still speaks with the tell-tale accent of a student schooled in an educational system shaped by the British.
Standing in front of a Thursday class in Hall-Patterson, Regis admonishes his students to “please do not believe anything from someone who is telling a story from another person’s experience. It is always best to hear the story straight from the source.”
As he speaks, students stare straight at him, intrigued by both the message and the cadence of his voice.
Regis joined the Department of Mass Communication last fall, just in time to help with efforts to earn the department accreditation. He teaches features writing, critical and persuasive writing, news writing and reporting and new editing.
Regis said that journalism, as a field of study and a career, appeals to him because of its role in society — the “role of providing information to make well-based decisions and to have the power to act on those decisions based on truth.”
He is the author of “Culture and Mass Communications in the Caribbean: Domination, Dialogue, Dispersion.” Published in 2001, the collection reviews the relationship among culture of the Caribbean, dominant societies and mass communication. Before coming to WSSU, Regis was an associate professor of mass communications and the University of Florida.
During a recent interview in his office, Regis talked about his childhood in St. Lucia. He said the two memories that stand out in his mind are these: the poorly developed transportation systems and the isolated communities.
Because the communities were so isolated, it took him till high school to get exposure to some of the different people that surrounded him his entire life. However, once a sense of closeness was established among some of his peers, he said he started to finally feel included with his community. Today, St. Lucia is a top Caribbean destination, especially for honeymooners.