Jordan Hill, a junior English literature education major at Point Loma Nazarene University, was named April 8 as winning the Blunt Scholarship, which is named for an underground student newspaper that published in 1976 at the conservative college.
Hill is the first person to win the $1,000 scholarship which is funded by former students and supporters who published The Blunt newspaper in 1976. They have contributed $13,000 to the scholarship fund and the former students played a role in selecting Hill.
Hill was deemed “Blunt-worthy” by the alumni selection committee, said Dr. Michael Christensen, who is on the committee and now works at the Wesleyan Center on the Point Loma campus.
“He demonstrated…not only his social consciousness and progressive ideas, but his willingness to push the boundaries of the dominant culture of PLNU with a playful wit and satirical style,” said Christensen.
The criteria for selection as Blunt scholars include the requirement that recipients embody the original radical spirit of The Blunt and are committed to free expression and fair exchange of controversial ideas.
The name of the underground paper was satire, and its pages were filled with humor. The students who formed The Blunt previously worked on the official student newspaper, The Point, before The Point’s funding was cut by the college administration.
“This scholarship is directed toward students with an interest in creative writing and reporting,” said Carol Foster, a former Point editor and Blunt writer who helped negotiate the agreement and endowment campaign with the college administration.
The scholarship is also in honor of literature professors Noel Riley Fitch and Michael McKinney.
Hill is the son of a Lutheran pastor and from Bonita Vista. He is the creator, producer and host of a show on YouTube in which he impersonates a conservative pundit.
“Jordan has distinguished himself through his quick wit, cultural satire, and intelligent participation in my literature courses…(and) he is an independent thinker who does not always follow the rules,” said professor Carol Blessings.
A 40th anniversary issue of The Blunt will also be published on campus.