WASHINGTON – Two Howard University journalism students have been selected to participate in the Rhoden Fellowship with ESPN’s The Undefeated. The one-year sports journalism program will train Arthur Cribbs, and Nathaniel Easington, a junior and senior, respectively, to become leading reporters on the sports industry.

“The Rhoden Fellows Program already is making a difference. Some graduates are out in the world now starting to put a stamp on our profession. We welcome this newest class to add to the pipeline of excellence we’re building,” said Kevin Merida, ESPN senior vice president and editor-in-chief.

This is true for the two students of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications. Cribbs has experience writing about sports, specifically with Dodgers Nation, a news source on the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball team. He was also a production manager for Spotlight News, Howard University’s student television network under WHUT-TV, and spent his summer as an intern with Sony Pictures.

“I hope to gain an understanding of the operations of the sports media industry from the best in the business,” said Cribbs, who applied after great encouragement from his professors. “Within the industry as a whole, I want to share the power in each person’s individual story. I want to share stories that serve as an inspiration and remind people that as unique as we are, we can see aspects of ourselves in every person’s story.”

For Easington, working for Howard University’s award-winning student-run newspaper, The Hilltop, and The Ghanian Times has offered him a wealth of knowledge thus far. He spent his summer working on Capitol Hill with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

“In this program, I plan to focus on aspects of sports I haven't covered, and improve my ability to produce media from a number of different platforms,” said Easington. “I would like to be known as a journalist that produces long-form investigative pieces about sports, and move away from just reporting on the score from the most recent game.”  

Last year’s Rhoden Fellow, Tiffany Hoyd, now a Howard graduate, was an example of a successful participant in the program. Her story sparked more interest for Cribbs and Easington to apply, unknowingly becoming fellows themselves.

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(Featured image: Headshots of Arthur Cribbs and Nate Easington, students at Howard University and 2019-2020 Rhoden Fellows at ESPN - courtesy of Cribbs and Easington).

About The Undefeated

The Undefeated is ESPN’s multiplatform content initiative exploring the intersections of sports, race and culture. The digital hub, TheUndefeated.com, which launched in May 2016, combines innovative long-form and short-form storytelling, investigation, original reporting and provocative commentary to enlighten and entertain African Americans, as well as sports fans seeking a deeper understanding of black athletes, culture and related issues.

In addition to its cutting-edge content, The Undefeated seeks to be a thought-leader on race, sports and culture in the country – convening insightful forums to discuss and debate topical issues affecting sports and race in America.

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.  For more information on Howard University visit www.howard.edu

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu