A large photograph of a beloved cat hangs over the desk scattered with books on gender,

communication, and dramatics. A mug filled with reheated black coffee that says, “I don’t give a
sip” rests on the shelf.
This office has been a place of grading, sharing, laughing, and learning over the past 16 years.
The tenant is about to say goodbye and close the door for the last time. No more office hours for
this professor.
Joey Pogue has taught at Pittsburg State University in the Department of Communication for
nearly 16 years. He plans to retire at the end of the semester. His journey to Pittsburg State was
no walk in the park.
Pogue’s struggles began in high school, where he lacked drive and direction.
“When I didn’t know what I wanted to do, it was very difficult because I couldn’t focus,” Pogue
said. “I didn’t focus at all, in fact, I was kind of lost. I got through high school just by showing
up.”
The world was very turbulent when Pogue graduated in 1968, which played a factor in the
decisions he made. He said he attended college briefly after he graduated high school, only to
drop out.
“The Vietnam War was going on, the whole hippie thing,” Pogue said. “I got lost in all that kind
of stuff. I got to college and thought holy crap they’re serious. It wasn’t until I had a real reason
and real focus to go to school that I handled it very well.”
Pogue would eventually find a reason to go back to school. He said he wanted to do life his way
first.
“I rebelled against the town that I came from, and the battle to be myself,” Pogue said. “I thought
I am going to show them.”
Pogue packed up his things and moved to Montana to join a union to get him on the pipeline in
Alaska as a cook. Although he never made it to Alaska, he used his time in Montana to
reevaluate his life.
“All the time I had been writing songs, it seemed like poetry,” Pogue said with a twinkle in his
eye. “I thought if I went back to school, I’d be an English teacher. I bought a novel, a Time
magazine, a newspaper, and a dictionary. I started looking up words and getting myself ready.”
He said there was a death in his family which brought him back to the place he tried so hard to
get away from, Missouri. He attended Crowder College before transferring to Southwest
Missouri State University, which is now Missouri State University.
“I made A’s. Surprised me because I applied myself,” Pogue said.
He got his undergraduate degree in English education with a minor in speech and theatre because
he had always loved writing song lyrics and poetry. In the process of getting this degree, he
stumbled upon a love for theatre.
“I had to take an elective that involved acting,” Pogue said. “I’d never done anything like that,
but I found out I was pretty good at it. I started directing plays, so I just feel like the artistic side
of us gives us the opportunity to be transparent.”
Although Pogue had found a path in college that he loved, he said it was more about the piece of
paper he got at graduation than the subject matter itself.
“I loved it, but there was a part of me that just wanted to get the degree because I didn’t have the
degree,” Pogue said. “I always felt ashamed of that, and my parents were ashamed.”
Pogue’s life was a whirlwind after he graduated with his undergraduate degree.
“A school called me and asked me if I’d like to go to work, and I did,” Pogue said. “All of the
sudden I became a teacher. My life just went another direction. I met somebody, got married, and
it didn’t work.”
He said he wished that he had taken time to figure out who he was before he took on a teaching
job and got married. Nonetheless, he did enjoy teaching secondary school. He taught in Sparta,
Missouri for two years and in Ozark, Missouri for three years.
“I kind of liked the junior high because they were miniature adults that had not been
contaminated by their egos,” Pogue said. “I always had a theory, if you could get ahold of them
then, they would learn.”
When he got bored teaching secondary school, he went back to Southwest Missouri State to get
his master’s degree. He dropped out again to become a singer/songwriter, but he eventually
returned and completed his graduate degree.
As Pogue recalled all these events, he stared into space for a moment before he asked me if any
of this was making sense.
“It was not a straight line through all this,” Pogue said. “I can’t even remember all the moves I
made. I did a lot of stuff.”
After teaching at community colleges, he decided he wanted to go for his Ph.D. at the University
of Missouri. It was not an easy road to complete this degree, as he fell back into his old ways of
drinking and doing drugs.
“Where I had all those troubles in undergraduate, I flunked out and all that stuff in the late 60’s, I
went back there and got my Ph.D. eventually,” Pogue said. “It took a while. I dropped out a
couple of times.”
Pogue started working at Pittsburg State University in 2004, and he completed his doctoral
program in the summer of 2005.
“It’s not been a smooth ride, but I gathered a lot of antidotal evidence that I’ve brought into my
classes with the stories I tell,” Pogue said. “I did end up making good grades, so I ended up being
a professor.”
Kristen Livingston, who works alongside Pogue as an instructor in the communication
department, was once a student of his when she attended Pittsburg State for her undergraduate
degree.
“It was Joey’s Media, Analysis, and Criticism class,” Livingston said. “It was an upper division
class with mostly grad students. I might have pooped my pants. I was intimidated.”
Livingston said it was an interesting experience stepping into the world of Pogue’s teaching
style, but she learned to love it over time. Regarding Pogue’s personality, she said what you see
is what you get.
“He’s passionate,” Livingston said. “Sometimes I think people can potentially misconstrue that
passion for other things, but I have always found him to be one of those teachers that wants their
students to really critically think and apply what he’s teaching to their classes. I think his noggin
works in wonderful ways.”
Over the last 16 years, Pogue has faced challenges that threatened the impact he has on students.
“I really think it’s important that the students be given the skills to teach themselves and be
responsible, democratic citizens,” Pogue said. “I think that whole ideal has been maybe
jeopardized by the market. Students were the kind of students, not because we want them to
learn, but because we want their money.”
These challenges have fueled him to be a better professor that leaves lasting impacts on his
students and co-workers. Pogue said that is his biggest accomplishment.
“I piss a lot of them off, but I am pretty truthful,” Pogue said. “I’m not totally authentic because I
don’t think anybody is while they’re on planet earth, but I’m pretty close.”
Livingston said that the department is going to lose a vital puzzle piece when Pogue retires.
“What I am going to miss most is his ability to really push the boundaries of how we think and
what we think about as teachers and as students,” Livingston said with a sigh.
After 16 years, Pogue has a lot of great memories at Pittsburg State. He said the real magic
happens when people are engaged in pure creativity and the process. Those are his favorite
moments.
“They’re fragmented,” Pogue said with a slight smile. “You don’t even know it’s happening.
Most students don’t ever forget my classes. I know that. Some of them want to kill me and some
of them don’t. My favorite moment is when I see the lightbulb go off in a kid’s head. When a
student realizes it’s not easy, but they still go for it.”