As The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich ’14 remains in Russian custody, support for the jailed correspondent remains strong among the Bowdoin community, many of whom remember him as a gifted and diligent student.
Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
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Gershkovich was arrested March 30 while on assignment in the city of Yekaterinburg, about a thousand miles east of Moscow. Russian authorities have accused him of spying for the US, charges that have been vigorously denied by both the White House and The Wall Street Journal.
“We are deeply concerned about Evan's safety, and our thoughts are with him and his family,” said Bowdoin President Clayton S. Rose in an email to the campus community after Gershkovich’s arrest was announced.
“A free press is essential to a free society and is embedded in the core values of our college,” he continued. “Evan, along with so many other Bowdoin graduates, has dedicated himself to advancing this principle and making it real.”
Gershkovich majored in philosophy at Bowdoin, where he wrote for The Bowdoin Orient and also helped edit what is now The Bowdoin Review (then The Bowdoin Globalist).
After working as a news assistant at The New York Times for two years, he moved to Moscow in 2017, having secured a job at The Moscow Times, an independent English-language news website.
Gershkovich, who grew up in a Russian-speaking household in New Jersey, went on to join The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.
Speaking in a 2020 Bowdoin interview, Gershkovich said the lion’s share of his job “entails reporting news features, meaning I have to follow trends and read between the headlines to tell in-depth, relevant stories to help a foreign audience understand Russia.”
While many Russians, particularly officials, may be reluctant to talk to journalists, Gershkovich added, “if you go looking for the right people, many more want to tell their stories than we are led to believe.
Of course, some will want their comments to be from an unnamed source, which means, as a reporter, you have to make sure you speak to them over encrypted channels and protect their identities.”
A Diligent, Curious, and Engaged Student
Nine years after Gershkovich graduated, many Bowdoin faculty members recall a hardworking, curious, diligent, and personable young man keen to immerse himself in a liberal arts education.
"As a freshman, Evan was a student in my class Racial and Ethnic Conflict in US Cities. It was a big class,” said Associate Professor of Africana Studies and History Brian Purnell.
“He stood out for his excellent writing and research skills, even then. I checked my files and see he wrote a paper on the racial violence that broke out in East St. Louis in 1917. His research was thorough, even then. He collected dozens of newspaper articles from close to ten periodicals.”
“I had Evan in four philosophy classes, and he was an excellent student and a very good writer. I was very happy to see his journalism career develop,” said Joseph E. Merrill Professor of Philosophy Scott Sehon.
“After he graduated, he and I exchanged a few emails, (one of them commiserating over the Mets’ loss of the 2015 World Series).”
Professor of Philosophy Emerita Sarah Conly taught Gershkovich in a seminar on the philosophy of sex and gender.
“He was outgoing and engaged, and willing to speak up when other students were holding back. For that reason he was great to have in class..”
Gershkovich was also a student in A. Leroy Greason Professor of English Brock Clarke’s creative writing classes.
“My advanced fiction workshop in spring 2014 was one of my favorite classes ever, and Evan was a big of part of why,” said Clarke.
“In that class he showed himself to be a funny, self-deprecating, curious writer and person—always looking to learn something he didn't know, always looking for ways to get better as a writer and a reader.”
Government professor Laura Henry, who specializes in Russian politics, said she got to know Gershkovich as a generous and helpful alum.
“He participated in alumni panels for our students and met with Bowdoin students who were studying abroad in Moscow, even helping with an internship at The Moscow Times. I have long admired his intrepid reporting on a range of issues in Russia, but in particular his careful attention to the voices of average Russian citizens. I also corresponded with him when his reporting from Russia overlapped with my own research interests in Russian civic activism.”
A number of those who knew him as a undergraduate shared their thoughts and memories of Gershkovich in a Bowdoin Orient article.
These include writer Erica Berry ’14. “He was one of those freakishly curious and talented writers that could write about political things [and] arts,” she said. “He carved this path for himself.”
Amid the fond memories, there is, of course, shock, outrage, and concern among the entire Bowdoin community regarding Gershkovich’s current situation and a desperate hope he will shortly be released.
“He is a good human being,” said Purnell. “I hope he gets home soon, and when he returns that he keeps researching and writing the truth, just like he sought to do in class and just like we taught him to do as one of our graduates.”
Evan Gershkovich’s arrest and detention have understandably sparked widespread media attention. Here’s a roundup of some of the coverage, plus links to the articles (some of which are behind a paywall). Updated September 19, 2023.
September 19: Another setback for Gershkovich as a Moscow court declined to hear an appeal from the Wall Street Journal reporter. According to the Associated Press, Gershkovich, who made his first public appearance in several months at the court hearing, will remain in pretrial detention until at least November 30, “unless his appeal is heard in the meantime and he is released—an unlikely outcome.
August 24: A court in Moscow has extended Gershokovich’s pretrial detention period by three months, according to numerous media reports. The Wall Street Journal reporter will now be detained until November 30, reported CNN and others, citing the press service of the Lefortovo Court in the Russian capital. Gershkovich’s pretrial detention period had been due to end on August 30, more than five months after his arrest.
August 14: The US ambassador to Russia has paid a visit to the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter, reports The Portland Press Herald and other media, including The New York Times. This was Lynne Tracy's third visit to Gershkovich since he was jailed in late March. “Ambassador Tracy said that Evan appears in good health and remains strong, despite his very challenging circumstances," said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
July 20: Journalists staged a twenty-four-hour readathon starting at 8:00 a.m. on July 19 to draw attention to Gershkovich’s plight, reported the Catholic News Agency. Colleagues of Gershvkovich from The Wall Street Journal were joined by journalists from other media outlets for the event, which was held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Each journalist took a fifteen-minute slot, reading excerpts from Gershkovich’s large body of work, including articles he wrote for Agence France-Presse and The Moscow Times.
July 13: US President Joe Biden says he’s “serious” about a prisoner swap involving Gershkovoch, according to reports in The New York Times, CNN, Politico, and others. During a news conference in Finland, Biden confirmed that “a process is underway.” Meanwhile, Gershkovich’s sister says she’s feels encouraged by the efforts being made to keep his story in the spotlight. Danielle Gershkovich was speaking at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, that was reported in numerous media outlets, including ABC News and The Independent.
July 7: Evan Gershkovich’s family reflects on one hundred days of his detention in The Wall Street Journal.
Read more media coverage and follow The Wall Street Journal’s latest updates on Evan Gershkovich.
For details on how to join the campaign to call for Evan's immediate release, check out the "Free Evan Gershkovich" website.
