Lawrenceville Rolls Out Red Carpet for Student Civic Media Grant Films

Lawrenceville rolled out the red carpet for a special event on Nov. 1, celebrating the inaugural Hutchins Institute for Social Justice’s Student Civic Media grant recipients. Last spring, students in the Second through Fourth Forms were invited to submit proposals for up to $1,000 of funding to support media projects that advance the shared understanding of and collective responsibility for addressing issues that impact civic life.

Ten projects were completed, and created projects ranging from films to podcasts to a visual arts piece, all focused around a topic of civic importance. A faculty committee selected four of the projects to be screened at the event. The remaining six civic media projects were showcased the following day at Lawrenceville’s first Civic Awareness Day Civic Fair, sponsored by the Hutchins Institute.

Zaheer Ali, executive director of the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice, introduced the films at the event, noting that they were grounded in the definition of civic media presented by Henry Jenkins, the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education at the University of Southern California. Civic media is something that “conveys or enables the exchange of meaningful information to foster connectivity and strengthen community, explores critical perspectives, encourages transparency and accountability, and enables or strengthens citizen agency,” he said.

The four films selected for the screening featured topics including a video essay regarding navigating social media as a Black girl; a small, rural domestic violence crisis Center in Bulgaria; the untold stories of China’s food delivery drivers; and, the fight against book bans in New Jersey. Following the film screenings, student creators joined Ali on stage for a discussion.

Ali began by asking the student creators why they felt it was important to make their films at this particular moment, and what they learned from the experience.

Max Valtchev ‘25, said Lawrenceville’s mission helped inspire him to tell the story of domestic violence victims in his project.

“Coming to Lawrenceville I really gained a sense that I am responsible for others,” he said. “We have a saying that says ‘lead lives of learning, integrity and high purpose,’ and this really resonates with me.”

Valtchev said the project underscored the importance of working with a team.

“I learned how things are possible, especially when you work with other people,” he said, noting how the Hutchins Institute support was fundamental for his project’s success. “We go further together than if we go alone.”

Zoe Gu ‘27, who created a film exploring the life of a Chinese food delivery driver, said her film idea emerged after she read the book “The Rickshaw Boy.”

“I saw a connection between that main character and people in the world who are in the working class,” she said. “My motivation is to help people understand how many of the issues we’ve faced before still exist. Delivery is such a big aspect of our daily lives, so it's important to recognize the flip side of the story, which is how their daily lives are influenced by their jobs.”

Miranda De Olden ‘26, who worked with a team of creators on a film about recent book bans, said her group members all “value stories that open our eyes to different perspectives, diverse perspectives. What inspired us to take action was that a lot of these [book banning] groups are unfairly targeting members of LGBTQ and BIPOC communities, that’s why this film and fighting bans was important to us.”

“We learned it's a lot of work to capture a story and cover an issue on both sides and take into consideration both perspectives on the issue,” De Olden said. Her group also helped advocate for the passage of the New Jersey Freedom to Read Act in the New Jersey State Senate. The bill limits book bans in public schools and libraries and protects librarians from lawsuits and criminal charges.

De Olden testified in the New Jersey State Senate on behalf of the bill, and says it was a great experience seeing the law pass.

“Our little bit of advocacy work contributed to making sure this bill got passed,” she said.

Na’imah Ford ‘25  said her project about social media was a chance to reflect on her own relationship with digital platforms.

“I wanted to share today, because social media is never going to go away, that we should think about the impact of one like and what it really means, and how we can make social media a safer space for everyone,” she said.

Ali noted that the idea for the civic media projects stemmed from a conversation he had with Ford last year.

“Hopefully as you hear from your peers,” Ali told the audience, “you have a sense of possibility that if you have an idea there may be people willing to help you develop that idea. You might end up creating a whole legacy that you didn’t even envision when you started. I hope you all feel empowered when you have an idea, to pursue it.”

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.