The deadline for the GCC Pulitzer Center is fast approaching. Dec. 9 will be the final day to submit applications via email as the program will be looking for its 2025 fellow. The Pulitzer Center is an educational program to support students with reporting on gender related issues and topics.
Not many students know about the Pulitzer Center. Some may think this program only applies to aspiring journalists but this notion is incorrect. Anyone can apply regardless of a student’s major. With so many programs on campus, what makes the Pulitzer Center stand out? What is the main goal of the Pulitzer Center program at GCC?
“I co-founded the Pulitzer Center at GCC with Professor Michelle Stonis, who teaches Women’s History,” Dr. Reut Cohen Schorr said in an interview. “We launched it in 2022, as a joint collaboration between Journalism and History, and are entering our third year as a partner campus. This partnership provides exciting speakers, panels, seminars, and more to the campus community, with events both in person and online. Last semester, we hosted a college-style seminar to train students, who also received free reading material thanks to a Senate Innovation Grant award. This semester, we hosted an Info Session to help students learn how to craft a feature article proposal.”
Dr. Cohen runs the Journalism Department at GCC, which is overseen by Language Arts. “We hope to get the word out,” she explained. “At the end of each year, at the end of the Fall semester, we solicit applications for a Pulitzer Fellow to represent GCC. We have our upcoming deadline of December 9th for proposals to find our 2025 fellow. We hope to get the word out, so that we have a robust application pool. Applicants can be from any discipline — they do not have to be journalism students.” The Fall would be a busy time for the Pulitzer Center especially when receiving applications and promoting the program across GCC.
There’s a direct financial benefit to students. “Three students will be selected as finalists and will be contacted for an interview in January,” said Dr. Cohen. “One student who is selected by the Pulitzer Center in D.C. will receive a $3,000 grant to report on an issue related to gender. They will also present their research and article at Washington Weekend, in October 2025. That trip is fully paid for through the program, and it’s an incredible opportunity to see the nation’s capital!”
Not only will students have a chance to visit Washington D.C. and have their expenses covered by the program but they will have the opportunity to conduct research on the topic of gender, receive mentorship from seasoned journalists and benefit from professional development opportunities here on campus. The student selected by the Pulitzer Center will also be able to travel abroad to cover and document issues related to gender. However, nations in the midst of conflict are forbidden, such as Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, and Haiti. Under no circumstances will a student enter a conflict nation, the co-founders of the GCC program said. Proposals are due Dec. 9 via email. Students should send their completed application to: [email protected]. The application can be downloaded at the link here (please download a copy and fill it out): https://bit.ly/GCCPulitzerFiles. You can find more information about the GCC Pulitzer Center at: https://www.glendale.edu/academics/academic-divisions/social-sciences-division/history/pulitzer-center-campus-consortium.
Sean Canonico can be reached at [email protected].