Free Speech Fellowship bolsters education equity at J-School

The Graduate School of Journalism is proud to announce the inaugural recipients of its new Free Speech Fellowships. Gabriela Arvizu (’16) and Nicole West (’16) have been selected to receive the fellowships, which provide funding for their graduate studies while at Berkeley.

Before coming to the J-School, Gabriela Arvizu of Oakland did her undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University. At Cal she is focusing on television and longform video reporting and producing.

Nicole West is a Texas native who studied communication and journalism at Texas A&M University in San Antonio. Her fellowship is supporting her studies in multimedia news reporting.

This is the first year the Free Speech Fellowships are being awarded. Funding is provided by photographer and J-school Alum Angela Filo’s (’99) Yellow Chair Foundation. In 2000, Filo and her husband — Yahoo co-founder David Filo — created the foundation to support education, civil liberties, gender equity and environmental issues.

“Along with being an accomplished photographer in her own right, Angela has been a consistent and enthusiastic supporter of J-School programs,” said Edward Wasserman, J-School dean. “Now Yellow Chair is easing the financial strain on two immensely promising students so they can focus on the job of developing their talents, which is why they’re here.”

By Alex Kekauoha (’16)