Student journalists from Norfolk State and Virginia Commonwealth universities have been named 2026 summer newsroom fellows by the Virginia SPJ,SDX Educational Foundation. Both fellows will receive a $2,000 cash stipend to support a newsroom internship this summer.
A’lauren Gilchrist, who graduated in December from Norfolk State University, was selected as the 2026 George A. Bowles Jr. Fellow, named for the late Virginia broadcast journalist. It is the top award in the foundation’s annual summer fellowship competition. Gilchrist, who is from Suffolk, Virginia, will spend the summer reporting for News21, an award-winning program that produces in-depth, multimedia projects for The Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today and other major media outlets.
The foundation also awarded a fellowship to Victoria Chambers, who expects to graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University this coming December. Chambers, who is from Fredericksburg, Virginia, is a broadcast journalism major. She will finalize and announce her summer internship plans soon.
Gilchrist and Chambers were selected in a competition that drew applications from college journalists across Virginia. The fellows may use their $2,000 cash stipends for any internship-related travel, lodging, supplies and other costs.
A’lauren Gilchrist
Gilchrist graduated early from NSU with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications (journalism concentration) and a minor in English. She was editor-in-chief of The Spartan Echo, the student newspaper, and president of the school’s chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She currently serves as the NABJ’s national student representative.
A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., Gilchrist said she hopes to be “a voice for the voiceless, amplifying marginalized communities and bringing overlooked stories to the forefront.”
She has won multiple journalism awards, including from the NSU Department of Mass Communications and Journalism and the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals organization.
Gilchrist has been a Washington Media Scholar; has interned at WAVY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Hampton Roads, and other media organizations; has anchored and produced newscasts for WNSB HOT 91, NSU’s student radio station; and has been a production assistant and researcher for a documentary about her university’s famed marching band.
Since January, Gilchrist has been an investigative reporter with News21, which is headquartered at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Virginia SPJ,SDX Educational Foundation fellowship will support the continuation of her work with News21 this summer.
In News21, top journalism students from across the country work full-time out of a digital newsroom at the Cronkite School for 10 weeks each summer under the guidance of a team of veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning editors. Each year, the program focuses on a topic of national impact.
In her application for a newsroom fellowship from the Virginia SPJ,SDX Educational Foundation, Gilchrist wrote:
I am pursuing a career in journalism because I want to help shape history through the words I write, speak, and share. I believe true journalism presents the full story, allowing the public to form their own informed perspectives. Truth should never be hidden, and there is always a missing voice that deserves to be brought to light. The media influences how we think, feel, and respond, and I want to contribute to a narrative that not only holds those in power accountable and verifies credibility, but also highlights what is going right in our world.
Victoria Chambers
Chambers has been a reporter for VCU InSight, a news show produced by undergraduate broadcast journalism students in VCU’s Richard T. Robertson School of Communication. For her fellowship application, she submitted a portfolio that included video reports about pedestrian safety and VCU’s safety ambassadors.
Chambers also has been a TV production intern for Virginia Public Media, which operates the PBS and NPR stations in Central Virginia. Her internship supervisor — Matthew Wood, VPM’s production manager — praised Chambers’ skills and attitude. In a letter of recommendation, Wood wrote:
She was consistently open to assisting our production staff on anything — no matter how obscure, unglamorous, or brand new to her skill set. She never once assumed something ‘wasn’t her lane.’ Instead, she treated every task as an opportunity to understand the full broadcast ecosystem. She built trust quickly, showed initiative, and filled in across a variety of roles for multiple different productions throughout her internship — including responsibilities typically reserved for more experienced student workers.
What stood out most was her curiosity and her willingness to explore outside her core disciplinary track. She proactively sought additional learning in our VPM News and VPM Music radio teams, asking questions, assisting those departments when available, and absorbing concepts with speed. That intellectual range — the willingness to learn horizontally, not just vertically — is rare at this stage and is genuinely one of the strongest indicators that investing in her education is going to yield significant future return.
In her fellowship application, Chambers wrote:
I am pursuing a career in journalism because I believe in being a life long learner. I want to be a conduit of truthful information to my community. I believe now more than ever it is important for people who value the truth to be in the media space.
About the foundation and its fellowship program
The foundation was formed in 1971 by the Virginia Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Since then, it has awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships and fellowships to more than 90 students attending Virginia colleges and universities. Here is a list of recipients, including bios and photos, over the past half-century.
The foundation will begin taking applications for the summer 2027 fellowships in December. Applicants must be sophomores, juniors or seniors enrolled at an accredited Virginia college or university. Applicants need not be journalism majors but must demonstrate intent to pursue a journalism career in print, broadcast or online media.
The foundation seeks donations to support the fellowship program. Donations are tax-deductible, and 100 percent of donations go toward fellowships. Checks (payable to Va. SPJ,SDX Educational Foundation) may be mailed to:
Brian Eckert
VSSEF Treasurer and Executive Director
2701 River Oaks Dr.
Midlothian, VA 23113
SPJVA Today 
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