Two alumni of the Dow Journalism Program won Novak fellowships this year to pursue long-form research and reporting projects. 

Jack Butler ’15 and Kate Odell ’13 received the Fund for American Studies Novak Fellowship in 2022. Butler is submissions editor at National Review and Odell is a member of the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal.

The fellowship is a year-long program, named after the late political columnist and television pundit Robert Novak. It gives young journalists $35,000 in grant money to take a deep dive into a specific topic. Graduates of the fellowship often use their original works to write a book. 

Butler said he plans to write about “the conservative case for living well” and Odell said she will focus on military readiness.

To apply to the fellowship, journalists pitch ideas which are “broadly supportive of the principles of a free society,” Butler said. 

Butler said he has been thinking about the idea of living healthy for much of his life but became particularly motivated to put his bid in for the fellowship in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. His main concerns are with the left’s control of governing what it means to be healthy. 

The left has “abused its monopoly, as the left often does, to subvert pre-existing notions to its own ends,” Butler said. 

A former member of the Hillsdale Cross Country as well as Opinions editor of the Collegian, Butler called himself “the runner and the writer.” 

Butler said his favorite memory as a professional journalist was reporting on a festival in Bedford Falls, the town “It’s a Wonderful Life” was based on. 

“It’s great to go and talk to real people and write a story about something that’s interesting and good, instead of always writing opinions that make people angry,” Butler said.

Odell said she plans to write about “U.S. military readiness and U.S. military decline and how to reverse that trend before the next major world or a regional conflict emerges.”

She has written about similar topics for the Wall Street Journal, specifically involving the Navy and the Air Force. 

Butler and Odell are not the first alumni to receive the Novak fellowship. Micah Meadowcroft ’16, the web editor at the American Conservative, is a member of the previous class. 

He said he reported on the “origins and the significance of the cost of education” and hopes to turn the project into a book. 

All three said they are thankful for the direction Hillsdale provided them as well as the skills the Dow Journalism Program taught them in preparation for their careers.

“What I studied in college pretty much directly prepared me for what I’m doing now,” Butler said. “I think there are many people who would say that they wouldn’t be where they are today if not for one John J. Miller.” 

Director of the Dow Journalism Program John J. Miller said it’s great to see the success of his students. 

“They’ve earned it,” Miller said. 

All three agreed the Wednesday nights in the Collegian office were the highlight of their Hillsdale journalism experience. 

“The Collegian was like my clock tower,” Meadowcroft said. “It kept me set to a rhythm and was an integral part of my whole college experience.”