2020 was a tough year for many. The pandemic forced us to rethink and adjust our flagship programs. We recognized keeping our communities informed is more critical than ever.

Despite the coronavirus, the foundation kept all its 2020 programs intact for student journalists, many of them virtually.

Among our 2020 successes:

  • We picked three winners for the Last Row Party Scholarship awards just before the pandemic hit.
  • We had two student fellows work this past summer at Chalkbeat Indiana and the Indianapolis Recorder Newspapers. While both our fellows worked more virtually than in-person, they told us their internships were valuable and they were grateful that they had a summer internship when so many did not.
  • Our 34th Annual Keating competition, which is usually a two-day, in-person event had to be modified. Instead, we asked students to submit stories written within a one-year timeframe on the past year’s most pressing issues: the pandemic, social justice, the election and campus news.

By the end of 2020, we will have supported student journalists with $20,500 in scholarships, internships and cash awards. It’s an accomplishment that makes us proud.