One of the more powerful and gut-wrenching stories I've read in a long time. Similarly to the path U.S. citizens do or don't walk toward realizing, educating and doing something about centuries of African-American and Native American cultural genocide, this article lays out the difficulties of that journey on a nation-wide and personal level. Incredibly empathetic and informative. Phenomenal piece of work.
This story on an important and sobering topic grabbed me from the first line and held on the writing grounds a national story in the experience of individuals past and present, giving it vivid immediacy while doing justice to its vast scope. I felt it was such a tough story to do well, and the writer found just the right tone to convey the graveness and enormity of the wrongs acknowledged by the TRC but without provoking simply despair—without making me ever want to stop reading. Extraordinary.
Finalists
Association of Graduate, U.S. Air Force Academy, District VI - "We're all in this together"
California State University, Chico, District VII - "Chico Statements: In the Wake of Crisis"
Campbell University, District III - "The Opioid Epidemic"
Ithica College, District II - "The Brentwood Boys"
Stanford University, District VII - "And yet, you try"
University of Iowa, District V - "From Auschwitz to Iowa City"
University of Notre Dame, District V - "The Last Victorian, Autumn 2016"
Wake Forest University, District III - "Wake Forest's New Frontier: How the University Is Staking a Claim in Downtown Winston-Salem and Expanding Education Beyond the Bubble"
