Friday, April 22, 2005

Diversity Institute graduates 7th class of journalism fellows

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The seventh class of 16 journalism fellows — the program's largest class to date — has graduated from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute, a training program at Vanderbilt University for people of color who want to become journalists but have not had formal journalism training.

After graduating from the 12-week program April 15, fellows joined the staffs of their sponsoring newspapers as full-time journalists.

"We congratulate these 16 new journalists for their dedication and perseverance," said Robbie Morganfield, executive director of the Diversity Institute. "Now they begin the next step in their journey as they take their energy, diverse talents, experiences and hard-earned skills into newsrooms across the country."

Among the 16 Diversity Institute graduates are:

• Wayne Ma, who earned a bachelor's degree in political science and African studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and will work as a reporter at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa.

• Elizabeth Roman, who this week became a reporter at the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass. Previously, Roman used her master's degree in education from Harvard University and graduate certificate in public health management from Suffolk University to support her family as a city planner in Cambridge, Mass., and director of planning and operations for a health center in Boston.

• Hanna Tamrat, an associate insurance underwriter in San Francisco and a licensed childcare provider who earned a degree in economics and international relations from San Francisco University. Tamrat will now work as a reporter at The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune.

Diversity Institute fellows are people seeking a mid-career change or recent college graduates who did not major in journalism. Applicants are nominated by newspaper editors, generally in the applicant's hometown. Participating newspapers agree to hire their nominees as full-time journalists after they have completed the program, which consists of 12 weeks of hands-on training introducing the fellows to all aspects of print journalism — reporting, writing, editing, visual journalism, media ethics and journalism history.

Diversity Institute fellows are taught at the John Seigenthaler Center, a Freedom Forum facility on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Participants are housed in nearby apartments and receive a small stipend during the program. The Freedom Forum pays all expenses.

This class brings to 67 the total number of Diversity Institute graduates since the program began in June 2002. For additional information, including application information, visit the Diversity Institute's Web site.

New graduates of the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute and their sponsoring newspapers: