A natural born broadcaster, Eugene Daniel ’11 has experienced a less-than ordinary path to his professional calling, which has interwoven communications with his religious faith.
By Leila Jackson ’22
From an early age, Eugene Daniel ’11 knew he wanted to study broadcast journalism in college. “I loved the idea of being able to craft ways for people to understand concepts better, and I loved the idea of being able to do that on television,” he says.
But his faith was also a big part of his life, so he decided to minor in religious studies and get involved with Elon’s Gospel Choir. He also co-founded Affinity, a Christian group that Daniel and his friends organized to connect people through exploring and understanding their Christian faith. “I never really knew how to balance my two passions, but Elon gave me the chance to start my own organization and lead that while also being able to grow and learn in journalism at the same time,” Daniel says.
A Communications Fellow, Daniel was determined to be a sports journalist. His father played professional football for 14 years, and he grew up watching famous sportscasters like Stuart Scott. The catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 made him reconsider his career path during his junior year, and he ultimately decided to focus on general broadcast news. “I realized there are only so many angles that the sports broadcasters at the time were able to take and I knew that I really wanted to be able to help people, to encourage and to educate,” Daniel says.
After graduating, Daniel took a position as a general assignment reporter at WMBD-TV station, the CBS affiliate in Peoria, Illinois. He moved on to covering local government news and is now a producer and an evening news anchor for the station. He also served as the young adult coordinator at St. Paul Baptist Church in Peoria, working with young adults aged 19 to 29 to guide them in their faith. In 2014, Daniel decided to pursue a Master of Divinity degree at Lincoln Christian University and work part time at the station.
“I’ve always been interested in digging deeper into faith, particularly the Christian faith and its background,” Daniel says. “I’ve had the great opportunity to teach and speak at various churches here and share about my faith and my career, so I wanted to make sure that I could study as much as possible from what I believe.”
Now that he is back at WMBD full time, he is still involved part time at St. Paul. In addition to his many jobs, Daniel is also a weekend personality at WCIC-FM, a Christian radio station in Peoria, which gives him the chance to combine his two passions in a different way. “I am still on a journey to being the best that I can be, no matter what I’m doing, and figuring out what that looks like,” Daniel says.
“You don’t have to suppress a passion in order to pursue your career and for me, I’ve been blessed that I’m able to have two passions that I’ve been able to do simultaneously.”