St. Louis Community College has been drastically losing student enrollment for several years – and longtime community leader and social justice advocate Redditt Hudson believes he can help restore this vital resource.
“It’s my intent to ensure that students receive a quality education and ensure that they become part of the workforce,” Hudson said at a Friday campaign reception held by the Ecumenical Leadership Council at the Great Grace Church.
Hudson is running for a seat on the STLCC Board of Trustees in the April 8 election. Incumbent Melissa Hartmann, who currently holds the Subdistrict 1 seat, will not be running for re-election. Hudson has one opponent, Theodis Brown Sr., chief of the Castlepoint Fire Protection Association.
The STLCC subdistrict that Hudson hopes to represent includes the Hazelwood, Ferguson/Florissant, Riverview Gardens, Jennings, Pattonville, Ritenour, University City, Normandy, Clayton and Ladue school districts.
Hudson is the currently the regional field organizer for Region IV of the NAACP. Before working with the NAACP, he was a program associate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.
At the Friday reception, STLCC Board of Trustees Vice Chairperson Doris Graham said she strongly supports Hudson as a candidate.
“He is a man of integrity,” Graham said. “He’s an honest man, a wonderful husband and a good father. He will help bring unity to the board. If elected he would be working right by my side, working to make sure the board is moving as one and that there’s no division in our mission.”
In July, the six board trustees were divided in the vote to extend former Chancellor Myrtle E.B. Dorsey’s contract past June 2014. Hence the motion to extend Dorsey’s contract failed on the 3-3 vote. Those voting against were trustees Hattie Jackson, Joan McGivney and Libby Fitzgerald.
The African-American support for Dorsey, who is African-American, on the Board of Trustees was also split. Graham supported her contract renewal, while Jackson opposed it.
In a recent interview with The St. Louis American, Interim Chancellor Dennis Michaelis said that there needs to be more stability and unity among the board in order to move the college forward. (Read story “STLCC: not One College” on A11)
Supporters believe Hudson has the background and skillset to be that bridge maker.
“Redditt is an organizer; that’s what he’s great at,” said attorney Maurice Foxworth. “He’s a mediator, and that’s the type of person that needs to be part of the board.”
Former St. Louis City Fire Chief Sherman George said, “Redditt’s commitment is to the entire community, and especially empowering the black community. He is always doing what is right and necessary. I know he will do what’s necessary for the college.”
Hudson is a former St. Louis police officer. He left the force in 1999 to focus on addressing systemic problems in the criminal justice system and improving the police’s relationship with the community. In 2000 he co-founded Project PEACE, an organization working with educators, students and parents to address gang violence prevention and intervention, while promoting individual and community responsibility and accountability.
Hudson sat on the U.S. Attorneys Hate Crimes Task Force in St. Louis.
In 2005, he began working with the ACLU of Eastern Missouri as its racial justice manager. He authored the 2008 ACLU study on the crisis in St. Louis jails, Suffering in Silence. Though dismissed by the Slay administration and Post-Dispatch, its reports on drug smuggling and physical abuse in the jails were subsequently confirmed by federal convictions and video evidence.
Hudson remains an advocate for criminal justice reform and works to address civil liberties issues within the criminal justice system, and particularly within the police/community relationship.
Hudson lives in Florissant with his wife Hope, who has been a registered nurse for over 20 years, and his daughters Lauryn and Faith, who both are students in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. His family also includes a daughter Elizabeth and a stepson, Justin.
Before marrying Redditt 16 years ago, Hope attended STLCC’s School of Nursing at the Meramec campus as a single mother and said she strongly believes in STLCC’s mission.
“I had my son when in high school,” she said. “St. Louis Community College was affordable and accessible.”
Hope believes her husband would be a perfect advocate for students in their community.
“He speaks for people who can’t speak for themselves – that’s him,” she said. “He’s very community-oriented, and he’s always been that way.”
Hudson grew up in the University City School District and graduated in 1983 from University City High School, where he earned all-state player honors after four years as a star basketball player. Hudson graduated from St. Louis University, where he played basketball for four years.
At the Friday reception, Hudson said his opposition has run for the seat and lost six times. However, he does not want this to be his opponent’s “lucky 7.”
“This is not a presidential election, so we don’t typically see the turnout we need,” Hudson told his supporters. “You’ve got to help me get people to the polls.”
