The Undefeated’s Rhoden Fellows program aims to develop great storytellers

For two or so years, ESPN President John Skipper met periodically with award-winning columnist William C. Rhoden to discuss a targeted sports journalism internship program designed to identify and train promising African-American students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Their shared vision became a reality today as ESPN’s The Undefeated announced the inaugural class of Rhoden Fellows – six students from six journalism programs at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) across the country.

The two-year fellowship represents one of the founding tenets of The Undefeated – developing new voices and serving as an incubator for future multicultural journalists. While school is in session, the Rhoden Fellows will cover news and sports at their schools for The Undefeated’s HBCU vertical, as well as serve as beat reporters for college and professional sports in their markets.

After a distinguished career with The New York Times, Rhoden joined ESPN’s The Undefeated as head of the fellowship program and as columnist and editor-at-large. In the video above, he discusses the Rhoden Fellows.

Jon McLeod produced the video.