Cassandra Jaramillo: UT alum relies on research to hold people and systems accountable
Since graduating from the University of Texas in 2016, Propublica investigative reporter Cassandra Jaramillo has written watchdog articles that have exposed financial fraud, challenged police practices and spurred new laws. Despite writing so boldly, Jaramillo vividly remembers feeling imposter syndrome as a low-income, first-generation college student after leaving her home in Mexico for a classroom full of talented young journalists at UT.
“I was navigating this space that no one in my family had experienced, no one knew how to give me advice or anything,” she said. “And so it was something that was extremely exciting, but also very intimidating.”
Jaramillo covers voting rights and reproductive freedom, a beat she said stemmed from the passion for civil rights stories she developed as a student. She “got the bug” for investigative reporting after her Daily Texan story about a racially-motivated assault on campus prompted a response from former university President Greg Fenves.
While Jaramillo carved her own journalistic niche, she quickly made supportive friends through Texas Student Television and Communication Council, and branched out as a senior with The Daily Texan. She also found faculty mentors like Robert Quigley, Diana Dawson and Leonard Moore who reaffirmed her path into journalism.
“(Dr. Moore) stressed the importance of enjoying what you do as your livelihood, because if you're good at it, you’re going to find a way to make money,” she said. “Today I’m fortunate to have a very nice reporting gig that allows me the ability to enjoy things.”
After graduation, Jaramillo completed her second Wall Street Journal internship and soon returned to Texas for five years as a staff reporter for The Dallas Morning News. In 2022, she pivoted to long-term projects on voting rights and democracy at the Center for Investigative Reporting, where she spent months investigating conservative nonprofit True the Vote for content that was nominated as a finalist for the Livingston Award.
Jaramillo joined ProPublica that fall, building on her True the Vote coverage and later following abortion rights. The newsroom’s slower pace and resources gave her a culture shock that reminded her of first coming to Austin. And similarly to her experience at UT, she found her place in a team who encouraged her to pursue the topics she cares about most.
“I get the opportunity to work with the best investigative reporters in the country, and every day I learn something new from them and from the editors,” she said.
Because she credits those who supported her throughout her career with helping her reach an outlet she had long admired, Jaramillo also leverages her position to mentor emerging young journalists.
“Really close to my heart are students who I’ve mentored, or interns who have come through newsrooms, and I’ve had the ability to guide them as they navigate college or their internship,” she said.
Jaramillo also connected with her new husband in the newsroom, who she married on April 20. What could have been an exciting few months of preparation was shaken when her father was diagnosed with cancer. Both events gave Jaramillo perspective on her priorities in life.
“If I’m lucky I’ll have 30-something more years of a career,” she said. “I love being a ProPublica reporter, but the time with our loved ones – you just never know. With my father’s health situation, I want to be able to make all the memories that I can with the time we have together.”