Back in September I watched the live stream of a panel discussion of the imprisonment of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The event advertised as Journalism Is Not A Crime took place at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine where Evan was a graduate in 2014. The panelists included an editor of The Wall Street Journal, a professor who taught Evan creative writing at Bowdoin, and the former editor of the Bowdoin student newspaper who became good friends with Evan when they were both students. 

Evan Gershkovich is the son of parents who immigrated to the United States from Russia. He grew up in a new Jersey household where both English and Russian were spoken, so he was bilingual and fascinated with the culture of his family. A gifted writer, he majored in journalism at Bowdoin and graduated in 2014. He quickly had job offers to work as a reporter for a newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but The Moscow Times also tempted him with a position. He weighed the two possibilities and chose The Moscow Times, an independent English and Russian language online newspaper that was mainly targeted at English speaking tourists visiting Russia. It gave Evan an opportunity to learn more about the customs, culture and people of Russia while honing his skills a a reporter. Eventually his writing caught the eye of The New York Times. When The Wall Street Journal took notice of his work and offered him a position as the reporter in Russia he jumped at the opportunity to immerse himself in learning more about the country that so fascinated him. He went to work for the journal shortly before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, sometimes living in Russia and other time staying in London for weeks as a time where he became an avid Arsenal fan. When the war with Ukraine made working in Russia more dangerous he nonetheless insisted on returning. His belief was that the world needed to know the truth of what was happening there. Last March he was suddenly arrested and charged with espionage. After several appeals he remains incarcerated.

The purpose of the panel at Bowdoin was mostly to raise awareness and support for his cause. an editor from The Wall Street Journal insists that Evan is not a spy as do those who know him best. They spoke of his sense of humor, love of people, and incredible ability to put just the right words together to tell a story. They are in contact with him and noted his optimism and their desire to keep Evan hopeful while the United States government works toward brokering his release. They all insisted that Evan was determined to write about the human side of living in Russia with honesty and compassion and nothing more. They are certain that he was not a spy, but simply a writer intent on telling truths. They suspect that his arrest was aimed more at punishing the United States for its support of Ukraine than because of any rules that Evan had broken. 

I suppose what struck me most about the panel discussion was the realization that Evan graduated from Bowdoin at about the same time that the KIPP Houston High School Class of 2010 did from the many colleges that they chose to attend after they left my guidance. I was designated as the leader of their class and I watched over them as though I was their mother. From the time they were freshman until their final day as seniors I monitored each individual’s progress, counseling those who were having difficulties, working with their teachers, writing countless letters of recommendation as they applied to colleges and universities across the nation. I knew and loved each and every one of them, so when many of them graduated from college in 2014 like Evan did I was there to witness their accomplishments. I watched them continue to grow and mature and chart their journeys into adulthood.

While all of my former students have mostly entered their thirties, I still remember them as wide eyed high school students full of so many dreams. In my mind a college graduate of 2014, are still very young persons attempting to build exciting and pleasurable live even as they have accepted very adult challenges much as Evan Gershkovich has done. It would pain me deeply to learn that any of them were in harm’s way. I feel a particular affinity for Evan’s plight and want to join in the attempt to raise awareness about the injustice of his imprisonment.

The members of the panel at Bowdoin are already working hard to keep Evan’s story in the public mind. They have mounted letter writing campaigns for him and held rallies to increase awareness of Evan’s situation. They have been working with our government to find ways to broker Evan’s release. Their concern lies in the reality that another American accused of espionage, Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned for five years. Their hope is that Evan will not face the same fate, but a kind of darkness has descended on Russia that is reminiscent of the Cold War in the days of the Soviet Union. It is more and more difficult to learn the truth of what is actually happening in the country. There is worry that he will be used as an example, a warning not only for other journalists but for the citizens of Russia as well.

Evan spent the summer before his arrest reporting honestly about how the Russian people were reacting to the war with Ukraine. He had commented that reporting on Russia meant watching people get locked away for life simply because of their views. In beautifully written articles he spoke of Russians attempting to live with the realities of war while trying to lead normal lives. He drank with them and watched them doing yoga. He saw them behaving as though nothing was happening in Ukraine even as they were cautious and unwilling to be totally open about their fears. Evan insisted on staying in Russia even after the war broke out because he believed it was important for the world to know what was happening there. Now his future is uncertain.

I will personally do what I can to keep Evan’s story alive. I understand his passion for writing what he believes to be true. I can relate to his interest in learning about the country from which his parents came. I too have longed to know more about Slovakia, the birth place of my maternal grandparents. I feel great sorrow that he has been caught up in a struggle that is bigger than his need to know and understand. I hope that we as Americans will rally to make him free as soon as possible. It has been six months since Evan was arrested. Keep his cause alive. Spread the word. #Free Evan! Journalism is not a crime.