51萝莉

From left: Daniel Graham, Rene Madrigal, Andre Manzo and Jamila Rhyse Roxas are part of the 2025 Chronicle of Philanthropy's Accountability & Nonprofit Acccountability Fellowship.

51萝莉 journalism students have received investigative journalism experience, training and even some cash for their work after the Chronicle of Philanthropy awarded The Breeze $10,000 to report on Chaffey鈥檚 Mackenzie Scott gift.

It鈥檚 a yearlong aimed at bolstering coverage of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy. Four news outlets including Riverside鈥檚 Black Voice News received $30,000 grants to improve coverage of nonprofits, foundations and other groups.

51萝莉 Professor of English and Journalism Ian Jones pitched the idea in the spring of including The Breeze in the fellowship since the college had received $25 million from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott in 2021. The Chronicle, normally awarding professional newspapers under the fellowship, decided to give The Breeze a shot.

鈥淭hey said, 鈥榃e like the idea so let鈥檚 meet,鈥欌�� Jones said.

Since then, the Chronicle assigned one of its staff writers to mentor Chaffey鈥檚 writers, and also sent an expert to meet with the students about charitable financial documents.

Four Breeze writers 鈥� Rene Madrigal, Daniel Graham, Jamila Rhyse Roxas and Andre Manzo - surveyed other community colleges about how they have been spending their and will publish a follow-up piece in the fall about campus response to the gift.

Roxas, who graduated in May and is continuing her studies at Cal State Long Beach, said the fellowship was fun and challenging.

鈥淚t really pushed my team and I to communicate with each other and channel our investigative journalism skills,鈥� she said.

The writers made an unexpected discovery while researching Scott鈥檚 gifts.

鈥淭hey found out that many schools didn鈥檛 spend the money right away,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚t turns out that Chaffey is not as much an outlier as we thought.鈥�

The fellowship has been a major opportunity for students, who are getting a taste of professional journalism, Jones said. And learning how to request and examine Freedom of Information Act and tax forms will benefit them in the future.

鈥淭hese nuances that students are learning to navigate aren鈥檛 taught in any class,鈥� he said.

Roxas said she learned that each writer worked at his or her best because they were collaborating on the project. And receiving compensation made the work that much more rewarding.

鈥淚t made me feel like the work that I was doing truly did serve a purpose and that it was informative to anybody looking into the topic,鈥� she said.