Phi Beta Kappa and The Key Reporter are pleased to introduce our ΦBK Writing Interns for fall 2025.
The Society’s Writing Internship Program serves new ΦBK members who are looking for an opportunity to gain professional experience and support ΦBK’s mission to advance excellence in the liberal arts and sciences in higher education.
The program is open to members in their first year and recent graduates. Each intern receives a $1,000 stipend for their articles published on our website, keyreporter.org.
MEGAN YARUSSO graduated from Augustana College in May of 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and in Sociology and Anthropology. That same May, she was inducted into the Zeta of Illinois chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Having a deep love for writing and literature, for two years Megan served as Editor-in-Chief of Saga, Augustana’s art and literature magazine, and worked for the Augustana Observer as a news reporter. She also served as the founding secretary of Augustana’s Sociology and Anthropology Society, a student group that organized social, educational, and charitable events on campus. Currently, Megan is pursuing a career in urban planning and attends the University of Illinois’ Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning program. In her career, Megan would like to focus on equitable community engagement and environmental sustainability.
PAULA ZEPEDA graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in June 2024 with a major in Political Science and a concentration in American Politics. She received Departmental Honors upon completing her senior thesis on an analysis of immigration rhetoric employed by members of Congress across a 35-year period. As a first-generation college student, she was driven to pursue transformative opportunities such as writing national news articles for the Daily Bruin, providing research assistance to UCLA graduate students’ dissertations, and interning for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C. She plans to attend law school in the near future.
About Our Program
Phi Beta Kappa’s writing interns help publicize the work of the Society and write stories about our alumni members. Applicants must be new members of Phi Beta Kappa within their first or second year to be considered for this position. Interns make a five-month commitment to the program and prepare a minimum of five short articles about Phi Beta Kappa alumni, news, or events for The Key Reporter website. Interns write and conduct research remotely. A staff presence in the national office in Washington, DC, is not required.
The deadline to apply for a Spring 2026 writing internship is December 5, 2025. Interested in writing for Phi Beta Kappa? Read about our program and apply online!