Media Credit: Photo Courtesy of Emerson Public Affairs

2/12/08

Douglas V. Holloway, president of cable investments for NBC and Universal cable and an Emerson trustee, spoke to Emerson students about his struggles with discrimination and his rise in the television industry, Monday in the Bordy auditorium. He spoke as part of African American Heritage month.

Holloway graduated from Emerson with a BA in mass communication in 1976, at a time when, he said, Emerson was a different place. "At that time black students were not really welcomed [at Emerson] to perfect their craft. These were the times when African Americans could not go to South Boston, or certain beaches, or certain restaurants," he said.

Media Credit: (AP Photo/Peter Bregg)

Now a very different place, Emerson owes much credit to students like Holloway, who challenged hostility and inequality. "We created our own theater and dance departments. This was all on the backdrop of school busing," he said. "School busing was the word of the day here in Boston. Again as a student in a racially tense environment, it is hard enough to just attend class and do my homework, you have to work overtime to ensure survival and fill our dreams of academic and career success," he said. "No matter how painful it was I would learn valuable lessons about how to compete and how to succeed and show no fear of anything or anyone," he said.

Passed over for positions and promotions that he said he deserved, did not stopped Holloway. He said he constantly had to work harder, re-invent himself, and be prepared for the changing world of technology and entertainment to stay ahead.

While at Emerson he participated in everything he could--radio broadcasting, radio tech, writing, directing, and producing news, acting in films and staging plays. He said he wanted a working knowledge about everything and left no stone unturned at Emerson. He recommends students doing the same and becoming involved in student organizations. He said the diverse knowledge he has taken away from Emerson has allowed him to make entertainment and marketing decisions that have escalated his career. The hunger he developed for learning has stayed with him and allowed him to remain at the forefront of the cable industry.

Unlike many alumni, who disappear after they graduate, Holloway never disappeared according to Emerson President Jacqueline Liebergott. Holloway helped establish the Mary Burrill Scholarship Fund for AHANA (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American) students attending Emerson College. Holloway said he remembers Mary Burrill, one of Emerson's first African-American graduates in 1904, coming to speak to a group of African American students at Emerson. Her story, he said, inspired him and he started the scholarship fund in her name.

Now Holloway is President of Cable Investments for NBC Universal Cable and he oversees NBC Universal's joint ventures in cable. Black Enterprise Magazine named him one of the top ten most powerful African Americans in Hollywood.

Holloway's rise from the USA network in 1983 to where he is now has not been an easy one. "I encourage you to do the most you can. Sleep is overrated."

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