The Hispanic Culture Review (HCR), George Mason University’s only bilingual literary journal, has been awarded the 2024 National Pacemaker Award—widely regarded as the “Student Pulitzer” and one of the highest honors in college media.
The award-winning edition was led by Editor-in-Chief Katty Becerra De Melo, an undergraduate student in 2024 and a former student in Spanish for Heritage Speakers (SPAN 315), a course taught by Dr. Carla Burns, who has served as the journal’s faculty advisor since 2018. The course invites students to explore language, identity, and what it means to be Hispanic in the United States—central themes that continue to shape the mission and voice of the journal. Many students from the class have gone on to contribute to or lead the HCR editorial team.
June 17, 2025