Jay Schalin joined the Pope Center in August 2007. He researches and writes about higher education issues, primarily in North Carolina, and oversees the center’s Web site.
A Philadelphia native, Schalin began working as a freelance journalist for the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey in 1994 and has also written for several other papers in New Jersey and Delaware. In 1998, he returned to school to complete his education, graduating from Richard Stockton College in New Jersey with a B.S. in computer science in 2001. After graduation, he was employed as a software engineer for Computer Sciences Corporation. Schalin received an M.A. in economics from the University of Delaware in 2008.
Duke Cheston, a reporter and writer for the Pope Center, is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied biology. At UNC he wrote for Carolina Review, bringing attention to UNC’s only conservative publication with a number of provocative articles. He won several awards, including “Best Newcomer” and “Article of the Year.” Also at UNC he was administrative and executive vice chairman of the College Republicans and was elected to the Student Congress in 2009. He is a native of Florida but has lived in North Carolina for over a decade.