ATLANTA — Former Clark Atlanta University (CAU) student Jarrett Hill became an instant household name in July, during opening night of the Republican National Convention. His notoriety began with a single tweet in which he accused Donald Trump’s wife of plagiarizing sections of a 2008 speech by First Lady Michelle Obama during Mrs. Trump’s address to Republicans. He said he noticed similarities in the speeches while watching it from a Starbucks in Los Angeles where he lives. His claim, later backed up by fact-checkers sent political shockwaves around the world. It also propelled the out-of-work reporter to weeks of cable news and network TV interviews because he was the first person to point out the discrepancy.

“It’s has been nuts,” said Hill of his sudden fame. “I have been in a lot of spaces that I never had the opportunity to be in before,” he said, including being invited to the Democratic National Convention and the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalist. He also has been offered several freelance reporting opportunities, and he has several TV projects in the works. However, the elusive network TV reporter job has not developed.

Hill credits being ready for his impromptu time on the world political stage in part to the one-year he spent at CAU from 2005-2006 and, a simple motto he learned while here, “I’ll find a way to or make one.” The former CAU-TV news anchor and publisher of his own newsletter while at Clark Atlanta said that’s the message he hopes current CAU students learn from his recent moment in the spotlight.

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“I have been finding a way or making once since I was 15,” he repeated. “If you can’t get in a door, build a new door.”

This article was written by Mario Boone, the Media Relations Manager at Clark Atlanta University, where it was originally published. It is published here with permission.

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