This is a story that ran in the Sidelines 100th Anniversary Edition newspaper, a print edition meant to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sidelines. 

Leon Alligood was the faculty adviser for MTSU Sidelines from 2012 to 2023. Alligood graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism in 1975 and had a 40 year career in journalism with 11 years at the Nashville Banner followed by a decade at the Tennessean. Alligood retired from teaching in December 2023 but stayed busy publishing a book and writing freelance pieces.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

What was it like for you to be the adviser of Sidelines for 11 years?

I knew that I was going to miss newspapers. I had a wonderful career. We got to do a lot of different things and got to travel all over the place, all over the world for a matter of fact. When I found myself at MTSU — in one place, all the time, every day — I was a little outside of my comfort zone.

After I became the adviser to Sidelines, I found my newsroom. It was my students. I was, for lack of a better term, the publisher of this weekly adventure called a student newspaper. I really enjoyed that part of it because it kept me busy. I loved the teaching part, but I loved seeing students apply what they learned in the classroom in the newsroom. I missed the camaraderie of the newsroom, and I got it back when I became the Sidelines adviser.

What legacy do you think you have left at Sidelines?

A legacy of getting out of the newsroom. It is very rare for a good story to walk in the door and announce itself to you. You have to go out, you have to talk to people, you have to observe. I hope that I instilled in my students the desire to do so.

I had a saying while talking about hard news. I always told them it was a sandwich made with mayonnaise. It’s meant to be consumed today, not to be consumed tomorrow. In other words, don’t procrastinate. Get the first draft of history down, get it on the web and then you can come back and add to it on a second day story. I hope that I passed that along as well as my love of reading.

Our new adviser as of the spring 2026 semester is Emily West. She was editor in chief during your time at the paper. What has it been like for you to see that kind of continuity?

She got her first job out in Greeneville, Tennessee, at the Greeneville Sun. She left to start that job in October, I believe, and finished that semester online. She graduated in December, so she was off and running. She came back to the Middle Tennessee area, worked at an online newspaper in Franklin for a while then worked at NewsChannel 5 for a while and The Tennessean. She’s been all over and has a wide variety of experience.

I remember when she called me and told me she had this opportunity, and she wanted to know if she was up for it. I said, ‘yes, it’s in your blood. I think you’re going to do fine with it.’ I’m happy to see that the torch has been passed to her; she is going to find her way.

Is there anything you would like to see us cover going forward or more of from the paper?

My bread and butter was human interest stories. I think that the university is full of people with great stories to tell. Sometimes it is easy to forget about the good stories that are right in front of you. I would encourage people to try and find stories on campus.