The world is Douglas Hopper’s classroom.
It’s the streets of Portland and the rural slums of Kenya. It’s Oaxaca, Mexico, and Southern India. It’s the tiny KWVA radio booth in the EMU. And most recently, it was the classrooms of Allen Hall.
Hopper, 27, will graduate with a degree in electronic media from the School of Journalism and Communication this spring. It was these unique learning experiences that Hopper believes gave him an edge over other candidates for the Kroc Fellowship. He is one of only three recipients nationwide of the prestigious award. He will receive training in almost every aspect of radio production at National Public Radio’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and eventually be placed with one of NPR’s 780 member stations in the country.
“I feel like I have a huge breadth of experience … that I can draw from,” he said. “My
experiences have opened my mind in a way that school might not have.”
Al Stavitsky, associate dean of the School of Journalism, said the program is part of NPR’s goal of fostering talent in public radio.
“National Public Radio takes this fellowship very seriously,” he said. “This is a major initiative to train the next generation of public radio leaders.”
Hopper’s relationship with NPR began as a teenager in Indianapolis, where listening to the radio provided an oasis from the conservative political climate of the Midwestern city. At the age of 19, Hopper moved to Portland on “a West Coast adventure,” in search of a more progressive
environment.
“I thought I was going to have this mythological adventure,” he said. “I ended up getting a job and meeting all these magical people, and I wanted to stay.”
It was in the progressive political hotbed of Portland that Hopper said he found his niche. But his activism took him far beyond canvassing and holding signs. In 1999, Hopper worked with the Cascade AIDS Project in Portland to direct and produce a documentary about young gay men
with AIDS.
In 2000, Hopper collaborated with the nonprofit organization Watoto wa Dunia (Children of the World) to create a photo exhibit to raise awareness about poverty in Kenya. Hopper spent two months with a group of Kenyan guides, traveling to rural slums and villages to document the
daily life in Kenya.
“I wanted to really do something that would challenge my boundaries,” he said.
It was Hopper’s attempt to provide “a window into their world,” he said.
“I intentionally took photos that were very personal and very intimate,” he said. “You can’t look at the exhibit without being looked at.”
The exhibit was highly
successful, and the sale of Hopper’s photos raised money for the organization. The organization also received a grant to integrate
Hopper’s exhibit into an educational curriculum about Kenya for Portland high-schoolers.
After returning from Kenya, Hopper continued to travel. He spent a month in Southern India and took a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico.
“I was traveling because I was really interested in the culture and the religion,” he said. “My travels expanded my mind in so many ways. It was really priceless.”
Hopper’s activism didn’t slow when he reached the University. He volunteered with the KWVA, the campus’ student-run radio station, anchoring a news program.
As the director of the University’s Queer Film Festival, Hopper pushed the envelope by choosing to show some unusually provocative films, University Director of Communications Todd Simmons said.
“He’s really one of the most thoughtful and caring and engaged students that I know,” said Simmons, who worked with Hopper on the film festival in 2004. “He’s really passionately interested in the world around him.”
Simmons recommended Hopper for the Kroc Fellowship and said he was impressed by Hopper’s highly developed sense of journalistic
ethic.
“One thing that really stood out for me … is something that comes through in his work,” Simmons said. “He’s sensitive to creating voices for the unheard. … To me, more of those kinds of journalists are needed in this kind of media.”
Hopper said his goal as a journalist is to “create conversation and … include as many voices as possible in that conversation.”
“It’s not just empowering for the people that are marginalized, but it creates a more interesting and relevant conversation in real life,” Hopper said. “There’s a lot of perspectives that aren’t heard and a lot of wisdom that isn’t ever given space.”
