Alecia Taylor

Alecia Taylor is a reporting intern at The Chronicle with an interest in covering diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as the curriculum. She’s interned with The Baltimore Sun and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her work has been featured in publications such as Black Enterprise, Essence Magazine, and their subpublication, Essence Girls United. In 2023 she was selected as the White House correspondent Harry S. McAlfin scholar and was awarded a Mark of Excellence Award by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram @AleciaReports, or email her at alecia.taylor@chronicle.com.

Stories by This Author

Leaving No Trans College Student Behind 1

Title IX updates

What’s the State of Transgender College Students’ Rights? Here’s a Primer.

By Kate Hidalgo Bellows, Alecia Taylor August 2, 2024

New federal protections of gender identity took effect on Thursday, but courts have blocked them across 26 states and hundreds of campuses. Meanwhile, at the state level, bathroom bills abound.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Morehouse College Commencement on May 19, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Campus Activism

Actually, HBCUs Have a Lot to Say About Gaza

By Alecia Taylor May 20, 2024

No one disrupted President Biden’s commencement speech on Sunday at Morehouse College. That doesn’t mean students and faculty members are disengaged from the antiwar movement.

First amendment lawyer Steven T. Collis answers questions from Senator Brandon Creighton during a committee hearing focused on campus free speech and combatting anti-semitism on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. (Sara Diggins, American-Statesman, USA TODAY NETWORK)

In the Hot Seat

Texas University Leaders Defend Efforts to Rid Campuses of DEI

By Alecia Taylor May 15, 2024

At a legislative hearing this week, Republicans said they don’t want to limit access to college. They want recruitment and retention to be fair.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. The protesters were protesting on campuses across the country, demanding colleges cut investments supporting Israel. (Ringo Chiu, SOPA, Sipa USA, AP)

Contrasting Tactics

We Looked at 50 Colleges to See How They Handled Student Encampments. Here’s What We Found.

By Sonel Cutler, Forest Hunt, Alecia Taylor May 1, 2024

Nearly half of the protests have led to arrests. Around a dozen have faced no consequences.

Authorities detain protesters on the campus of Emory University during an pro-Palestinian demonstration, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Law and Policy

Many Students Are Facing Campus Discipline for Protesting. What Could That Mean?

By Sonel Cutler, Alecia Taylor April 25, 2024

Activists who have been punished for putting up encampments face the possibility of formal warnings, eviction from campus housing, interim suspension, or expulsion.

Campus Activism

More Than 100 Colleges Saw Protests Demanding Divestment From Israel This Spring

By Sonel Cutler, Alecia Taylor, Amelia Benavides-Colón April 23, 2024

Encampments and sit-ins proliferated across the country in April, May, and June. Our map has been updated to include recent encampments at Wayne State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a handful of other institutions.

Students at Emerson College supporting Palestine sleep in tents in an encampment they set up in an alley off of Boylston street in Boston, Massachusetts on April 22, 2024. US President Joe Biden condemned any anti-Semitism on college campuses April 21, 2024, as pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University spent their fifth day demanding the school sever financial ties with key US ally Israel.

Campus Activism

Student Divestment Encampments Are Spreading. Here’s the Latest.

By Sonel Cutler, Alecia Taylor April 22, 2024

The Chronicle tracked roughly a dozen colleges across the country where activists have put up tents to demand that their institutions cut ties with Israel and take other actions.

President of Columbia University Nemat “Minouche” Shafik (L), and David Schizer (R), Dean Emeritus and Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law & Economics, testify before the House Committee on Education & the Workforce at Rayburn House Office Building on April 17, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism.”

On the Hot Seat

How Faculty Discipline Played a Key Role in the Congressional Hearing on Columbia U.

By Sarah Brown, Sonel Cutler, Alecia Taylor April 17, 2024

In the hearing, on Columbia’s response to alleged antisemitism and pro-Palestinian protests, lawmakers asked its president whether professors would be punished for comments on the war.

A coalition of student groups led a protest in support of the people of Gaza and against the University of Washington's and Boeing's investment in Israel in the University of Washington's Quad in Seattle, Washington, USA, on Thu., April 4, 2024. (M. Scott Brauer for The Chronicle)

Campus Speech

U. of Southern California Cancels Valedictorian’s Speech Over Safety. But Critics Call It Censorship.

By Alecia Taylor April 16, 2024

The university this month picked a Muslim American student as its valedictorian, but now says she will not speak at its May commencement.

Campus Voices

Students Are Voting to Support Boycotts of Israel. How Are Colleges Responding?

By Alecia Taylor April 5, 2024

Amid a surge in campus activism related to the Israel-Hamas war, colleges have struggled with how to respond to such votes. Two universities prevented students from voting at all.