Hampton University student Jamaija Rhoades was recently awarded the Pulitzer Center Fellowship. She will be partnering with journalism experts to examine racism within the school system in Richmond, Virginia.
Rhoades will be advised and mentored by Pulitzer Center staff and editors throughout the process. Upon completing her final project, it will be featured on both the center’s website as well as the website for the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.
“We are incredibly proud of Ms. Jamaija Rhoades for winning this distinguished fellowship,” said Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey. “Her proposal to report on racism in education in the Richmond school system reflects the university’s values of respect and inclusion of all people. We know that Ms. Rhoades will continue to live up to our university commitment to ‘Dream no Small Dream’ as she forges her unique path.”
Rhoades is a senior journalism student in the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. She has written for the Hampton University newspaper, The Script, as well as the weekly magazine, Her Campus.
“I would like to write a story that focuses on how Richmond’s history of discrimination and racism lives on through the city’s school system,” Rhoades wrote in her proposal.
The project will focus on racial disparities within the district. This will include an examination of the difference between the resources available for schools with a higher percentage of students living in poverty versus the resources available to more affluent schools. Rhoades also wants to examine the results of a study conducted by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium. The study found that Richmond’s Black students are suspended at four times the rate of white students.
“We’re excited to partner with Hampton University and want to congratulate Jamaija Rhoades,” said Kem Sawyer, Contributing Editor and Director of the Reporting Fellows Program, in an email. “Exploring the impact of discrimination and racism on the Richmond school system is ambitious and challenging, and Jamaija, a journalism major, is uniquely qualified to take this on. She has deep ties to Richmond and is herself a graduate of Richmond public schools.”
Rhoades’ research will include interviews from Richmond teachers who can “speak to the disparities and the lack of resources provided for black students and how this has affected the district’s graduation rates and scores on standardized tests.”
“Recent events have only underscored the importance of her topic,” said Sawyer. “Reporting on racial justice is core to the Pulitzer Center mission—we look forward to adding Jamaija’s project to our portal [pulitzercenter.org] on this issue.”
Hampton University first partnered with the Pulitzer Center in 2020. The first fellowship was awarded to Sara Avery who proposed writing about 3-D printed houses being produced in Haiti for the homeless.
The fellowship is through the Campus Consortium, which is a network of partnerships between the Pulitzer Center and universities and colleges, aiming to engage with students and faculty on the critical global issues of our time. The consortium’s goal is to connect the center’s international reporting directly with communities across the United States in an effort to expand knowledge of the world, spark conversations across disciplines and inspire individuals to expand their horizons.
“Jamaija Rhoades is an excellent reporter who comes up with unique stories that no other students have thought of,” said Lynn Waltz, Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications Assistant Professor. “For instance, she wrote about African Americans who think the statue of Robert E. Lee should stay in Richmond, Virginia because the graffiti makes it a new icon for this century. She truly wants to make a difference with her work. Her proposal about racial disparities in the education system in Richmond was very appealing to the Pulitzer Center selection committee.”
“We are very grateful to the Pulitzer Center for its work with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications and with Jamaija,” said Ms. B. Da’Vida Plummer, Dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. “Her examination of racism in the Richmond school system is aligned with our effort to launch a Center for Investigative Journalism within the School.”
Rhoades said it is an honor to be selected for the Pulitzer Center Fellowship program. Rhoades said her goal is to help bring awareness to the issues of systemic racism in the educational system and “create change for a community of people who are often overlooked and mislabeled.” She said the fellowship gives her the opportunity to do just that.
“Not only do I get the chance to work with some of the best journalists in the world, but I also get to shed light on my hometown,” Rhoades wrote in her application. “I get to use my platform to highlight the issues within the school system that have shaped me into what I am today.”
Rhoades is expected to graduate from Hampton University in May 2021, and her project will be completed by mid-summer.
