Wallace House Journal Knight-Wallace Fellows and The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists University of Michigan Volume 24, No. 2 Fall 2015 Where the Fellowship journey comes full circle 30th Annual Graham Hovey Lecture —By Greg Amante ’16 very well.” He knows. He’s seen it first hand. t was a sunny, warm September afternoon; a He shared a sobering story of when, in July Iperfect day for new beginnings. of 2014, he traveled to West Africa to report on A crowd gathered in the backyard of Wallace the early stages of the Ebola outbreak. He flew House for the 30th Graham Hovey Lecture, the to Sierra Leone and after much difficulty found annual event that kicks off each year’s Knight- a driver willing to take him to the “epicenter” of Wallace Fellowship. Among those in attendance this deadly outbreak. was University of Michigan President Mark Upon arriving to a makeshift medical com- Schlissel who welcomed us, the incoming 2015– pound, Beaubien said he immediately felt the 16 class of Fellows, into the “intellectual and weight of this crisis. Paulo, a representative from academic breadth” of this unique community. the World Health Organization, rushed out to There are 20 of us in this year’s class. We greet him with a frightening request: please allow occupied the first two rows of a tent erected to the medical workers to use his vehicle to empty shield the audience from the late summer heat. the hospital’s overflowing morgue. At that mo- Like a proud parent, Fellowship director Charles ment, Beaubien said, he knew the global re- Eisendrath asked each of us to stand and intro- sponse to the Ebola outbreak was “falling apart.” duce ourselves. As the recipient of the Knight Fellowship in Medicine/ From a Knight-Wallace Fellowship, to the Health Sciences Reporting, Greg Amante ’16 seemed the We are a diverse group. We have come from likely fellow to re-cap Jason Beaubien’s lecture. epicenter of an Ebola outbreak and back to Ann as far as Istanbul and as close as Chicago. As Arbor to tell his story, this was just part of each of my colleagues stood to present themselves, I couldn’t have been Beaubien’s remarkable journey. more proud to be among this impressive class, accomplished professionals Today marked the beginning of our journey. It’s not a break in our who have left their homes, their jobs, some even their families for the careers, but rather a bridge. A bridge, we as a group, will cross together promise of what they hope will be one of the richest years of their lives. and that promises to lead us as journalists and professionals to better And on this afternoon at Wallace House, the hearth of this Fellowship, days. Perhaps to our best days. all of us got a glimpse of where this transformative year can take us. Charles has consistently encouraged each of us to dream big As Charles introduced this year’s featured speaker, he also welcomed while here at Michigan. Today at our new home called Wallace home one of the Fellowship’s House we took the first steps own. Just eight years ago, toward those dreams and got NPR Global health reporter a glimpse of where that path Jason Beaubien was a might lead us. To watch the Knight-Wallace Fellow. He lecture, go to has traveled the world re- http://www.mjfellows.org porting on health issues and today he returned to Wallace House to speak about the KWF Director Charles Eisendrath, Hovey speaker Jason Beaubien ’07 “great conundrum in global and Dr. Mark S. Schlissel, President health:” how will the world of the University of Michigan, posed with the traditional Hovey bowl handle the next deadly epi- following the lecture. President demic? Beaubien argues that Schlissel welcomed incoming fellows to the University and hosted a we “probably won’t handle it reception following the lecture. 1 From the Head Fellow GAME CHANGER IN THE BIG HOUSE — By Charles R. Eisendrath ’75 Fellow’s project prompts signing of national anthem for the deaf ON THE ROAD TO A NEW EXIT Photo courtesy of Michigan Photograpy. nterstate 75 connects my life in Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan, 35 running the by all those reminders. That's where such things — By Larry Lage ’15 Ianother, very different existence at a cherry Livingston Awards, 30 directing the Fellowships. happen. niversity of Michigan Law Professor spring to develop the idea at MediaShift’s orchard in northern Michigan. The house is 115 What made me take the turn leading to re- But still, why leave a job I've been lucky USherman Clark took a sip of tea and Collab/Space innovation workshop in New York. years old and has been touched by five genera- tirement from all three, however, did not come enough to more-or-less design? Fair question. said what was happening in my life re- Closer to home, I’m happy to report that tions of us. Inside and beyond, in the woods and until late last summer. I don't like leaving im- Again, it's the numbers. Pride in having tried to minded him of Robert Frost’s “Two the University of Michigan is now a leader and fields, stuff and changes accumulate. Such portant things undone, and until then, the guide journalists to as satisfying a life as I've Tramps in Mud Time,” and recited this perhaps the best at providing deaf people, in- things mark what you've done and what you Livingston Awards had been neither strongly had runs deep. How much could I add in a few part of the poem: “My object in living is cluding my father, access to the national an- haven't; what things people in your gene pool embraced by the University, nor had it garnered more years? By contrast, although every job has to unite my avocation and my vocation,” them before the Jim Harbaugh-led Wolverines accomplished with reminders to try some. Such endowment. At the awards lunch in New York brought enormous pleasure, Wallace House way Clark said as he stared across a table of take the field at the Big House. Thanks to a explorations are part of what I suggest to in- last June, however, President Mark Schlissel told above all, jobs have always dominated my life. a restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. meeting I had with Athletic Director Jim coming Fellows, a sort of internal the winners, "I look forward to hearing about The only chance to explore what I might do “As my two eyes make one in sight. Only Hackett during my fellowship, I connected inventory-taking. your accomplishments and to coming back without one is right now. I'm well aware of what where love and need are one, and the people at the university with a contact at the So as I found myself driving through life's many times in the future to join in celebrating I advise Fellows in such situations. work is play for mortal stakes, is the Michigan School for the Deaf and one of its higher numbers in bumptious good health, 75 the future of journalism.” Hence, taking the exit off the big road I've deed ever really done for heaven and students has signed the anthem before each came to take on special significance. As that In August, a longtime donor sent the first known so well to smaller ones I think may lead future’s sakes.” home game. birthday approached, it became a sort of road of checks to total $1 million for endowment. to intriguing places with Julia, my lifelong road- Amen. My deed is not done, but Note: The University of Michigan Council sign. I had been traveling north and south on Suddenly, I felt confident that the Livingstons trip navigator and the copilot of our lives to- I’m proud of the progress that has been for Disability Concerns presented Larry Lage I-75. Maybe E-75, October 9, 2015, should sig- were firmly on the way to permanence at a gether. Many, I hope, will lead to you. made on my mission to create a platform with a Certificate of Appreciation at its annual nal Highway Eisendrath leading to life beyond University I've loved for a long time. to give Deaf people fair access to the James T. Neubacher award ceremony held earlier Wallace House. The numbers worked in the way Unsurprisingly, the decision to make of news by delivering current events in this fall. Lage was recognized for his work in journalists prefer in anniversaries: 40 years at this revelation came at the farm, surrounded American Sign Language (ASL). This Kalib Jones, a student with the Michigan School for the developing a news platform for the deaf and mission was put into motion when Charles Deaf, signed the national anthem prior to the Michigan vs. Northwestern football game earlier this season. hard of hearing community. Eisendrath challenged me during the spring of 2014, when I was interviewing to be a Knight- Wallace Fellow, to put together my experiences as the son of deaf parents with 20 years in jour- Wallace House in D.C. nalism. My quest can’t stop and won’t stop even Livingston Awards for Young Journalists Outreach Event as I juggle my roles as a sports writer for The Knight-Wallace Fellows Meet-Up Associated Press, a husband and father. “Guards with Guns: Are America’s Security Guards a Safeguard or Hazard? The AP is working with me to explore the 2015 Livingston winners Shoshana Walter and Ryan Gabrielson discuss the findings possibilities of creating a platform to bridge a of their Center for Investigative Reporting series on the haphazard system of lax laws news-literacy gap that I believe exists with the and weak screening standards for armed security guards.