2014 Data Journalism (Medium Staff) Finalist: The Chronicle of Higher Education Staff

“On Campus, Grenade Launchers, M-16s, and Armored Vehicles”

More than 100 colleges and universities have received equipment from the Department of Defense 1033 program since 1998, including office supplies, guns, vehicles, and even grenade launchers.

Comments from the Judges:

“The Chronicle of Higher Education’s story about colleges acquiring weapons required extensive use of FOIA to collect and compile, and the reporter did a good job outlining both the reasons schools acquire the military surplus and the concerns such weapons on campus create. The reporting also had deep impact, resulting in individual schools returning equipment and prompting additional national discussion of an important issue.”

“Very important and timely topic in the wake of Ferguson. Looking at the data for the colleges near me, I wonder what some suburban community colleges need this sort of heavy equipment for! The author went to great lengths to compile very comprehensive data.”