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LAWRENCE -- Carlos Ramiro Rodriguez, a Wichita freshman at the University of Kansas, is one of 80 young people of color named a summer 2002 Chips Quinn scholar by the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va. Through the scholarship program, Rodriguez will intern at the Jackson Sun, northeast of Memphis, in Tennessee.
At KU, Rodriguez is majoring in Spanish and preparing to earn degrees in business and journalism. He is the son of Margarita Rodriguez and a Wichita High School North graduate.
Chips Quinn scholars are college students or recent graduates. They attend an intensive five-day orientation with veteran journalists and journalism educators at the Freedom Forum in Arlington, work in 10- to 12-week paid internships at U.S. daily newspapers and receive $1,000 scholarships from the Freedom Forum after completing the program.
Since the program began in 1991, 710 young journalists have trained as reporters, copy editors, photographers and graphic artists.
"The Chips Quinn scholars are an impressive group of young people, and America's newspapers and communities are the beneficiaries of their talents," said Charles L. Overby, chair and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum.
Beginning with a summer class of six students in 1991, the Chips Quinn scholars program has expanded to include spring and summer sessions, reaching 100 young people annually. The scholars have a Web site, www.chipsquinn.org, and a fellowship program that provides further professional development opportunities for alumni.
The Chips Quinn scholars program is part of the Freedom Forum's effort to increase diversity in newspaper newsrooms. Freedom Forum advisory trustee John C. Quinn established the program in memory of his son, John C. "Chips" Quinn Jr., who was managing editor of the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal. Chips Quinn began his journalism career with newsroom internships and later worked as an editor at the Statesman-Journal in Salem, Ore., and The Providence Journal in Rhode Island before moving to New York. He died in an automobile accident in 1990 at the age of 34.
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