Hello,
Long time no see. We hope you’re faring well during these extraordinarily uncertain and challenging times. The current COVID-19 pandemic has, without question, impacted our lives in a myriad of ways. Many of us have had to switch to remote work, others have lost work, and a lot of us are struggling with the distance we’ve had to take from our loved ones, all of which has been nothing short of difficult. Our thoughts are with each of you as we continue to navigate through these (seemingly bleak) waters. That said, we wholeheartedly appreciate your reading of this newsletter and promise to keep it brief.
What’s happening now: We’re delighted to introduce you to Jasjot Kaur, our new Project Coordinator! Jasjot joins us from the Urban College of Boston, where they served as Enrollment Data Manager and worked with individuals traditionally under-served by higher education. We’re excited to have them aboard! They’ve hit the ground running (despite the current, less than ideal, circumstances) in ensuring that our summer fellowship program runs as smoothly as possible, which brings us to our next exciting announcement.
After months of sifting through tons of stellar applications, we’re excited to announce that we have chosen 5 fellows for our 2020-2021 fellowship program! Meet Korica Simon, Jafet Martinez-Molina, Alyssa Morones, Stacey Menjivar, and Sara Beladi, the incredible fellows that comprise our 2020-2021 cohort. Each fellow has been successfully confirmed for a clinic placement, and we’re thoroughly excited for them to have the opportunity to explore a range of freedom of expression issues during the upcoming summer!
What’s up next: “You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.” - Roy T. Bennett. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we begrudgingly had to cancel the cohort convening, which was scheduled for March 26 and 27, 2020. Nevertheless, we are planning for a virtual event in its stead as well as a series of Zoom meetings to replace our planned in-person workshops. Fortunately, most of our placement sites have committed to facilitating remote work for the summer—but we’ve committed to paying our fellows their summer stipends, independent of what else happens.
What’s on our minds: We’ve been struggling to find a silver lining in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Still, we’re happy to see that, while most of us are physically apart, we’re more connected than ever. Whether via cellular devices, social, media, or email, we’ve been reaching out, staying in touch, or both. Equally noteworthy, communities have been rallying together to help those most vulnerable to and impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. PEN America, an organization that supports free expression, has put together emergency funding for writers. National Geographic spun up a funding opportunity for folks covering COVID-19 in their own communities. And local groups all over the country are engaging in mutual aid to support each other.
Until next time,
Kendra, Sybil, and Jasjot