When Mike Gooding (B.A. ’85) went to English professor Alfred J. Mapp, Jr.’s home to interview him for Hampton Roads ABC-affiliated TV station WVEC, he heard a familiar voice from the foyer: “Well, Mr. Gooding, I’m pleased to see you finally made something of yourself.”
Gooding remembered the “humbling” he received years earlier in Mapp’s Southern literature course at Old Dominion University. “I had gotten an A on the midterm, an A on the term paper and an A on the final. But he gave me an F, because I skipped six classes.”
That lesson stuck. “What I learned is you’ve got to follow rules,” Gooding said. “If there are deadlines, you’ve got to meet deadlines. If it’s expected that you’re going
to turn something in, you’re going to turn it in, completed and proper.”
Gooding signed off from WVEC on April 1, 2025, ending a 40-year run as a broadcast journalist — the longest on-air tenure in the station’s history. He earned multiple honors, including a regional Emmy, the Meritorious Award from the Virginia Associated Press and the Navy Superior Public Service Award.
“What Mike has developed in these 40 years is the respect of viewers, the respect of the military, the enlisted, the admirals, the politicians statewide and national as well,” said former WVEC reporter Kathryn Barrett in an online story last year.
Gooding reported from 19 countries and embedded with U.S. forces in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, filing from aircraft carrier decks and combat outposts. Raised in a Navy family, military stories especially resonated with him, he said, because “this is somebody’s son or somebody’s daughter, and this is always a worthwhile tale to tell.”
He joined Channel 13 as an assignment editor and stumbled into his first on-air assignment with a CNN live shot during a Suffolk, Virginia, train derailment. He later covered the Virginia General Assembly and anchored sports and news. In the late 1990s, he carved out the military beat that defined his career. A favorite assignment took him to Vietnam in 2000 with teams searching remote mountains for the remains of missing Americans.
At Old Dominion University, Gooding was editor-in-chief of The Mace & Crown where he learned craft and leadership — “how to manage people, how to be fair to people and how to be kind to people.”
He wasn’t a model student. “I was on academic probation more often than I was not,” he said. After stepping away short of graduation, he returned and found his footing. “All you’ve got to do is show up, pay attention, turn in your work on time and actually read the books,” he said.
“Ҵý did everything for me,” Gooding said, noting it shaped his life beyond the classroom. He met his wife, Donna Gooding (BFA ’82), at the student newspaper. Their son, Erik Gooding (B.S. ’23), completed a computer science degree during the pandemic. They also have a daughter, Kate Loftis. Gooding remains a fixture in the stands, holding season tickets for football and men’s basketball.
After multiple knee surgeries failed to improve ongoing mobility issues, neurologists diagnosed Gooding with multiple sclerosis in 2023. He now walks with a cane and stays active and optimistic. Infusion therapy helps keep his condition stable but suppresses the immune system. “It’s MS,” he said. “It’s manageable. You don’t get better, but by getting the infusions, hopefully you don’t get worse.”
In retirement, Gooding is channeling his energy into veterans and community service. “I’m trying to keep my hand in things that I think are worthy,” he said.