High School Journalists, Aspiring Environmentalists to Come to Mason

At a media conference this summer, high school students from across the country will come to Mason to serve as "national youth correspondents," getting firsthand experience and hearing journalists like Helen Thomas and Chuck Todd speak. (Patrick Mazur, Admissions)
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UPDATED 11:20 a.m.

For the second consecutive summer, the Admissions Office of George Mason University will be hosting the Washington Journalism and Media Conference (WJMC) and the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment (WYSE).

Dean of Admissions Andrew Flagel serves as the executive director for both programs. “It’s an opportunity to reach out to outstanding students and network with high-profile individuals,” he explained. “We use a combination of outstanding faculty, the support of deans and interest from external parties to make this happen.”

The WJMC allows exceptional high school juniors with an interest in media and journalism to participate in the conference as “national youth correspondents,” either by nomination or by application, during the summer between their junior and senior years.

According to the WJMC website, two hundred and thirty youth correspondents will have the opportunity to work with and learn from “prominent journalists to CEOs of major media outlets and from researchers to recent college graduates already successful in the field.” This includes people such as Brian Lamb, the CEO of C-Span; Chuck Todd, NBC’s chief White House correspondent; Helen Thomas, known as “The First Lady of the Press,” a former White House correspondent and the first woman president of the National Press Club; and Anastasia Goodstein, CEO and editor-in-chief of Ypulse, among others.

Mason faculty are also instrumental in the conference. Students work with professors from the Communication Department, including Stephen Farnsworth, Robert Lichter and Professor Steve Klein, as well as with T. Mills Kelly, director of Mason’s Center for History and New Media and a professor of History, and Dean Flagel himself.

Youth correspondents work both on campus and off, traveling to locations such as the Newseum, the National Press Club, Capitol Hill, the Smithsonian and National Geographic Society.

The WJMC is a one-week program that offers one college credit after completion of the conference. The cost for the program is $1,885, which includes room and board (except for lunch), admissions, fees, transportation and all other activities, according to the website; need-based scholarships are also available.

The WYSE works similarly, though students attending this conference will explore environmental issues and learn from experts like Tom Lovejoy, past president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; Mark Bauman, executive vice president for National Geographic TV; and Steven Monfort, acting director of the Smithsonian National Zoo, as well as others. This conference also costs $1,885 and offers the same benefits as the WJMC, such as the receipt of one college credit after completion.

For the WYSE conference, students will travel to the Smithsonian National Zoo, the National Press Club, Capitol Hill and the Nationals Park.

Flagel explained that these conferences are just one of the ways Mason connects with prospective students and shows the general public what Mason is all about. “We are raising the institution’s profile [by displaying areas] where we have a great expertise,” he said. “It’s an incredible opportunity.”