The 1979 Dow Jones Minority Newspaper Fund Summer Interns meet and mentor 2023 Dow Jones interns at Temple University

By Bonnie Newman Davis

I can’t begin to say how wonderful it has been to reconnect with my class —-the FIRST group of DJ minority interns—after 44 years on May 25-27, 2023! Since 1979, our careers have taken us to news organizations in Richmond, Va, the Washington Post, New York Times, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Milwaukee, Chicago (Jet magazine), Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Boston, Baltimore, the Moscow Bureau of the Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, Wall Street Journal, Columbia Law School, academia, and numerous other institutions and workplaces. There were 11 of us then, but just nine of us now. All nine of us are here in Philly. Despite the years gone by, we still recall the wonderful learning experience and bonding that took place for three weeks in Easton and Bethlehem, Pa.

And we have not missed a beat when it comes to cutting up and having a good time when class is dismissed!! Besides myself, we are Charles Mapson, Trudy Moore, Valerie Montague, Deborah Heard, Debra Ann Martine McGaughey, Ellyn Ferguson, Gary Lee and David Ysais. Thank you so much David Ysais and Shirley Carswell, the executive director of the Dow Jones News Fund, for making this reunion such a beautiful reality.

During our three days in Philadelphia, we were fortunate to meet and mentor 12 college students who have their own internships this summer. We wish them the best of luck and encourage them to stay as close as our class has done. I’ll always remember the words of our late mentor and professor Sam Adams who advised us to get to know one another because we will have to lean on each other as the years go by. #summerof79