BROOKINGS — South Dakota State University student Jordan Rusche has been named to the Pulitzer Center’s 2022 cohort of 53 Reporting Fellows.
Rusche, a senior from Bancroft, will look at Native American education in South Dakota.
Her reporting will examine legislative efforts to improve education in tribal communities and also systemic and political barriers faced by tribal nations.
Rusche was the editor-in-chief at The Collegian, SDSU’s student newspaper, for the 2021-22 academic year and will be the co-editor for the 2022-23 academic year.
The Pulitzer Center awards fellowships to students at its campus consortium partners, which include liberal arts colleges, community colleges, state universities, historically Black colleges and universities, and graduate schools of journalism and public health in the U.S., Canada and Qatar.
Each fellow is paired with an adviser—a Pulitzer Center grantee with special expertise in the fellow’s topic or reporting destination. Pulitzer Center editors also provide mentoring in reporting, writing and multimedia.
“This fellowship puts Jordan in elite company and it provides her with an excellent challenge that will make her an even better young reporter,” said Jim Helland ’86/M.S. ’12, an instructor in SDSU’s School of Communication and Journalism. “The topic she has chosen related to Native American education is a story that needs to be told. I can’t wait to read her final product.”
“It’s a great honor to be able to represent SDSU and South Dakota through my reporting this fall,” Rusche said. “I’m excited to meet the other fellows and learn about the great articles they are going to share as well.”
As a fellow, Rusche will also take part in the center’s Washington Weekend in October.
