FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 18, 2016

Contacts:
Robert Leger, SDX Foundation President, 480-559-3656 (MST), rdleger@cox.net
Jennifer Royer, SPJ Communications Strategist, 317-361-4134, jroyer@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS – The Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) Foundation is delighted to congratulate Farah Stockman on being named a 2016 Pulitzer Prize recipient.

Stockman’s award-winning series, “Boston After Busing,” which examines race and education, was supported by the SDX Foundation through its Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing.

“I couldn’t be happier for Farah and her well-deserved Pulitzer. Her project delves into a difficult, complex subject that too often is avoided or addressed only with the talking points of the day’s news. She advanced the conversation in important ways, including inviting readers to take part,” said Robert Leger, SDX Foundation president. “That’s the whole idea of the Fellowship: To give an opinion writer the resources to really dig into an issue and make a difference."

Presented by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the educational arm of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Pulliam Fellowship awards $75,000 each year to an outstanding editorial writer or columnist to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world. The award can be used to cover the cost of study, research and travel. The fellowship results in editorials and other writings, including books.

Stockman used the fellowship to explore race relations in her city and beyond. Using Boston’s wrenching experience with busing as a starting point, her project looks closely at the myriad impacts 40 years later, hoping to spark a national conversation about race relations in America today through stories, columns and a website created to invite ideas on how to navigate the currents.

“I believe the lessons of the past need to be explored, so we can chart a better future,” Stockman wrote in her fellowship application.

Stockman wrote the series while she was a member of the Boston Globe editorial board. She is now a reporter for The New York Times, covering social issues related to the presidential campaign.

The recipients of the 2016 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today.

Deadline for entries for the 2016 Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing is June 22. For more information, to enter and view previous winners, click here.

Founded in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) public foundation that is dedicated to ensuring that those who carry on the tradition of a free press are prepared for the challenge. Its goal is to support the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and to serve the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism. For more information about the SDX Foundation, please visit Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) Foundation.