Emerging Journalists Corps’ first story gets statewide attention, plus a round-up of the best from young reporters
Updated to correct the spelling of Kathie Obradovich’s name.
It was gratifying last Saturday to see the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s lead story give attention to the negative effects the war with Iran has had on Grinnell College’s international students.
The attention was necessary so you could understand what these temporary Iowans were dealing with because of the war. The people who started the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Emerging Journalists Corps — myself included, and especially Akira Keene Teotrakool, a second-year student from Bangkok at Grinnell — made reading the story statewide possible.
It started as a story simply for the Grinnell campus in the student newspaper, The Scarlet & Black, where I am the professional adviser. From there, Akira, who uses “they” and “them” pronouns, worked with me to bring the story to a level of statewide interest. It worked out well.
“It is rare to have someone go to bat for your work the way you have for this piece, especially as a student journalist,” Akira wrote after the story was republished. “I came into this not entirely sure what to expect from the Emerging Journalists Corps, and what I have found is a collaborator who actually cares about the work reaching people.”
Fun fact: I bet you did not know a college student in Iowa could be operations manager for the Bangkok Youth Opera. Akira is.
This is a good example of what we can accomplish with the Emerging Journalists Corps. Kathie Obradovich, the Iowa Capital Dispatch’s editor, is part of a team trying to make this effort work, and we send our thanks to her. More stories you would not know about Iowans without student journalists are in the queue.
We are working with Olivia Schanz of Kirkwood Community College’s Communiqué on a story that has not been reported anywhere but in the college paper — one we think will interest you. Watch for it.
A few notes about the Emerging Journalists Corps: We are not sure what will happen in the summer because almost all of the college papers take a break, but we will try to keep you informed. We probably will use that time to refine this experiment, which you are privy to, for a full-scale launch.
Also, some of you have asked about donating toward this effort. We are working out the best way to collect your donations. All of those donations will be used to pay stipends to the student journalists. Give us a few weeks to figure that out. We will give you ample opportunity to support these gifted young k
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AMES SISTER RELATIONSHIP WITH KOSOVO CITY
The city of Ames is in the early stages of building a sister-city partnership with Podujeva, the Iowa State Daily’s Mallory Prescott reported. Plans call for mutual projects, including educational exchanges.
Ames launches new sister-city partnership with Podujeva, Kosovo
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, GRINNELL COLLEGE GRAD, DEAD AT 90
Sam Harris escaped a Holocaust concentration camp but could not hang on long enough to receive an honorary degree at the 2026 Grinnell College commencement. The 1958 Grinnell graduate died in Naples after a notable career that included founding and serving as president of a Holocaust museum in Illinois. Reporter Sam Schmidt wrote the story for The Scarlet & Black.
Legacy of Holocaust survivor and education advocate Sam Harris ’58
NEW COLLEGIATE NATIONAL CHAMPION FROM IOWA
Athletics teams get a lot of attention when they succeed — unless, perhaps, the team in question is a cheer team. Here is big news about the new national champion Morningside University cheer team. Making this story more interesting is the
jump Morningside’s team made to a new competition level. Jesus Flores wrote the story for the college’s The Collegian Reporter.
From Risk To Reward: Mustangs Crowned National Champions In Historic NCA Debut
END-OF-YEAR BURNOUT MAKES REACHING THE FINISH LINE DIFFICULT
Think of college burnout this way: You were given five assignments at work and told they all are due the same week. That is what college students are facing this time of year. St. Ambrose University’s Madison Thompson wrote a story for The Hive.
Spring Burnout Rises Among SAU Students as Finals Near
BLAME IT ON “HOSTILE CULTURE”
Payton Young, of Buena Vista University’s The Tack, expands on the idea of student burnout in an essay in which he argues that spending extraordinary hours to finish a school year results in something called “hostile culture.”
Burnout by design: The hidden cost of college hustle culture
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— Curated by Lyle Muller, Emerging Journalists Corps Editor