Jordan Miller, the OU Daily’s 2020-21 editor in chief, was honored today with a student advocacy award in the OU Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s inaugural awards ceremony.
Miller, a senior journalism major, was honored for her work to create a support fund intended to help further systematic change at The Daily, from the composition of its staff to the substance of its coverage to the community trust it must continue to earn with historically marginalized groups on campus.
She did so by persuading Gaylord College to give to The Daily $1,500 from the $3,000 in matching prize money it received after she won first place in the Hearst Journalism Awards’ breaking news category for her coverage of Gaylord professor Peter Gade using a racist slur in class in February 2020.
That $1,500 became seed money for The Daily’s ThousandsStrong campaign last fall that raised $7,290, which will fund eight years of scholarships. The first two of those have been awarded, providing $500 each to two students on The Daily’s current staff.
“I’m honored to be chosen,” Miller said in prepared remarks displayed during the Lifting the Voices of Inclusion ceremony, “and I know what strides we’ve made would not have been possible without the efforts from our entire editorial board, and I’m proud to have been a part of that. The Daily remains committed to further efforts of diversity, equity and inclusion in the coming year under our next two editors-in-chief, and there is much more work to be done.”