My Student is Hanging in the White House

Kudos to my former SFSU student Andrew Craft, photojournalist extraordinaire at the Fayetteville (NC) Observer. His memorable photo of a soldier departing for Iraq was framed and presented by the city to Michelle Obama, who was touring the Fort Bragg area to investigate military family support services.

As you can see in the first minute of this C-Span video, the First Lady said: "This picture is moving... It says so much...It's going to go up in my office tomorrow..."

The photo, entitled "Tearful Departure," depicts Capt. Shelia Jenkins comforting her daughter, Khadyajah, 7, while holding the hand of her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Claude Jenkins, as he departs on a bus to his flight to Iraq.

Andrew was recently named the 2008 North Carolina Photographer of the Year by the North Carolina Press Photographers Association -- for the second year in a row. It makes a professor proud!