Donate NowThe Pulitzer Center and The College of William & Mary created a unique initiative to provide deeper global learning and storytelling experiences for students.
With support from William & Mary alumni, Anne and Barry Sharp, The College launched its Campus Consortium partnership in fall 2011 with the Sharp Writer-in-Residence Program. Following the Sharp’s vision, the College and the Pulitzer Center offered a unique experience for 10 students: developing three integrated programming segments during the academic year tied together through a three-credit seminar named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp. Pulitzer Center grantees Stephanie Hanes, Jina Moore and David Rochkind led the students through the process of developing and finalizing their reporting projects.
In addition to small group and individual sessions with each student, the journalists created a series of workshops exploring the craft of journalism and today’s media landscape as well as providing a window into the journalists’ own reporting projects and career paths. Each student undertook a reporting project of their own choice and worked with the journalists to craft the final product, disseminated on the Pulitzer Center platform.
“William & Mary is grateful to Anne and Barry Sharp for giving our students the opportunity to learn about careers in journalism and improve their ability to write for public audiences,” said Joel Schwartz, director of the Charles Center, which has overseen creation and implementation of the seminar with the Pulitzer Center. “Anne was active in journalism as an undergraduate at the College, and she created this program to enrich the lives of current students that share this interest.
“Since William & Mary doesn’t have a degree program in journalism, the Sharp Seminar is a critical resource for students who want to communicate to broad audiences about subjects on which they feel passionately and have conducted academic research.”
Barry ‘81 and Anne Pennewell Sharp ’82 are the parents of Katherine “Katie” Sharp ’14. Barry Sharp is senior vice president and CFO of Imagine Schools, Inc., an Arlington-based not-for-profit company and largest operator of K-12 charter and private schools in the US. Anne Sharp is a former secondary school English teacher. The Sharps have been active volunteers with The College over the years. Barry Sharp serves on the Mason School Advisory Board and the Business School Foundation board. Anne Sharp serves on the W&M Foundation board. The Sharps are generous donors to The College, and their generosity established the Sharp Public Writing Program.
These projects are the culmination of the student's independent reporting through the Sharp seminar.
