Brief Description:

Description:

For Davenport first-years and sophomores. If you're planning a project or internship related to media, government, or public service, we encourage you to apply for the Class of 1982 Cowles Summer Fellowship.

The Cowles Fellow will receive a grant of $4,975 to cover living expenses while he or she volunteers, conducts research, or serves as an intern in a field connected with public discourse or community service.

You might be considering an internship but need financial assistance to make it feasible. Perhaps you're seeking support for an academic project or major paper on an aspect of government, community, or culture. Or maybe you have the chance to volunteer in Washington, D.C. or in your state capital but lack the means to live away from home.

The Class of 1982 Cowles Summer Fellowship has been established so that you can pursue these kinds of opportunities with (at least somewhat) less practical pressure.

We hope that this new funding resource will help you set and attain rewarding goals for this summer—and provide experiences that will continue to reward you in future years.

Good luck!

Class of 1982 Cowles Fellowship Steering Committee
Alison Adams
Stevan Bunnell
Sarah Chapman
Russell Cohen
W. Stacey Cowles
Jerome Hajjar
Seth Magalaner
Marvin Palmore
Ed Sevilla

Nine classmates from the Davenport Class of 1982 have established a fund to benefit Davenport College and commemorate Mr. William H. Cowles, 3rd, a Davenport alumnus and the late father of one of the classmates. An annual grant from the fund is intended to cover summer living expenses for a Davenport freshman or sophomore who has obtained an opportunity to pursue low or non-paying summer work in media or government or public service.

The biography of Mr. Cowles reads: Yale College Class of ’53 (Davenport), officer in U.S. Navy, President and Publisher of The Spokesman-Review, Fellow of the Yale Corporation. Mr. Cowles served as the third-generation publisher of the newspaper first published by his grandfather and took an active leadership role in his community and industry. In his 35 years in Spokane, he chaired organizations including the local Chamber of Commerce, the Symphony, and the Boy Scout Council as well as national trade organizations such as the Newspaper Advertising Bureau and the American Newspaper Publishers Association.

To the members of the steering committee, Mr. Cowles was a role model for the Yale graduate, a person of deep and abiding character. He believed in the power of a free press to serve the community and the public interest, was a passionate defender of the First Amendment, ably balanced commercial, community, and environmental interests, and understood the value of free expression and communication to foster democracy and to better society.

In remembrance of Mr. Cowles, the Class of 1982 Cowles Summer Fellowship will support a Davenport student whose summer internship project, in the opinion of the steering committee, best honors one or more of these principles. Whether in national or local journalism or government; whether in the media business or the non-profit sector, the candidate’s internship should be designed to give him or her an experience that includes being part of a larger public discourse. It is anticipated that this experience will help enable the student to discern a personal and professional career path that includes some measure of service to a community.

Given that ample opportunities currently exist for Yale juniors to receive summer internship funding and given that the steering committee intends the Fellowship to have an effect on the vector of the student’s life, eligibility for the Fellowship will be limited to freshmen and sophomores.

In the past, the steering committee has received and given strong consideration to a wide range of applications. We appreciate the ways in which candidates conscientiously relate the Fellowship’s emphasis on public discourse and community service to their work, and welcome ideas that cause us to reflect on these definitions. We are looking forward to another fascinating and worthy pool of Davenport applicants in 2016.

Application Information:

Documentation from the sponsoring organization or government agency of the student’s involvement in the project or internship will be requested as part of the application as indicated. This may be added at the end of your application essay.

Applications must include:
1. A brief (1-2 page) essay that describes the project to be pursued during the summer, outlines the student's background and interests that led to the project, and explains how the project meets the principles and criteria laid out in the charter. Please make sure your name is on the essay along with your contact information, email and cell phone.

3. Documentation of the student's involvement in the project described, including the financial terms (to verify the work is "low- or non-paying"): for instance, a letter of acceptance to a job or internship, or a letter from a supervisor under whose guidance the research or volunteer work will take place. This may be added at the end of your essay.

The amount of the fellowship will be $4,975.

The steering committee will review applications and award the summer fellowship no later than April.