School of Communication Studies

Kent State University Student Earns National Attention for Research about Youth Education in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Graduate student Daniel Socha works with a member of the Project Kirotshe running team on how to wash his running clothes.

Kent State University global communication studies graduate student Daniel Socha’s research on a non-profit organization’s efforts to support youth education in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently caught the attention of National Public Radio (NPR). In May, Socha traveled to the DRC to study and report on Project Kirotshe, a non-profit that provides funding for youth in the village of Kirotshe and surrounding areas to attend school.

Socha’s travel was funded through a fellowship by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. He was one of only 31 students nationwide to receive a fellowship to complete an international reporting assignment; the center provides funding for students to report on international issues as part of the center’s Campus Consortium educational initiative. One of the stories Socha developed for his reporting assignment was published on NPR’s website.

“It was awesome to see my article on NPR’s website,” Socha said. “To see my words and to know that I did that – I wrote that – was amazing.”

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