Student Experience
Life Beyond the Redwoods: Brock Hrehor at the Capitol Forum
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Brock Hrehor (Stevenson ’25, philosophy) is an investigative reporter at the Capitol Forum.
Brock Hrehor graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2025 with a degree in philosophy.
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Brock Hrehor (Stevenson ’25, philosophy) is an investigative reporter at the Capitol Forum, producing coverage that can help trigger litigation against corporations engaging in wrongful conduct. Hrehor credits his time at UC Santa Cruz with giving him the experience needed to launch his career soon after graduating from the university.
At UC Santa Cruz, Hrehor studied philosophy, was engaged in multiple internship opportunities, and was a Humanities EXCEL Fellow.
His education gave him the tools to parse complex documents, a skill that is now directly transferable to his current work.
“My courses at UC Santa Cruz gave me the skills to dissect dense readings and deconstruct arguments, and gave me the foundation to write coherently about different topics,” Hrehor said. “I use my philosophy degree and education from UC Santa Cruz every day.”
Outside of the classroom, Hrehor participated in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP), the Humanities EXCEL program, The Humanities Institute (THI) research program, and studied abroad through the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP).
Through CUIP, Hrehor interned at KZSC—his first taste of journalism. CUIP provides full-time students the opportunity to learn valuable professional skills while supporting student resources. Interns work within programs and departments throughout the university and attend a two-unit leadership seminar during the academic year. The program provides a scholarship to participating students, so they are able to focus solely on their classes and internship.
“That gave me the ability to throw myself into the internship, where I was able to engage with the news, make some mistakes in a relatively lower-stakes environment, and receive some great mentorship from all of the wonderful staff and community members at the station. Working
there also introduced me to a great group of really kind and intelligent students who I learned a lot from and am friends with to this day.”
Through the Humanities Institute’s undergraduate research program, Hrehor was able to leverage some of his work from KZSC for a research project. He says the experience gave him the skills to present his work in a formal context and see an idea through from beginning to end.
Through the Humanities EXCEL program, Hrehor retained an internship at The American Prospect, a progressive, independent, and non-profit news organization. Hrehor emphasized that the opportunity to work with The American Prospect was instrumental in helping him get more opportunities in journalism beyond graduation.
“Working at the magazine helped expose me to a whole range of political and policy issues that I otherwise wouldn’t have engaged with as rigorously, and helped me develop practical journalism skills without abandoning a normative voice. It also, perhaps most critically, allowed me to work at a D.C.-based outlet while staying in Santa Cruz. I was always interested in writing and reporting before working there, but my experience at TAP was what made me want to become a reporter after graduating.”
Hrehor added that the mentorship he received through CUIP and Humanities EXCEL was critical to his professional development.
“These programs helped me learn how to put together a resume and handle myself during job interviews, which I’ve found have been equally critical to career success as building a strong foundation in critical thinking and reasoning.”
All of the skills and experiences Hrehor accumulated during his time at UC Santa Cruz are directly transferable to his current work. His favorite part of his job at the Capitol Forum is the tangible impact his work is able to have.
“My work is that it gives me the ability to produce something that’s actionable and tangible – while I do strongly believe that things like exposure and naming and shaming are equally critical and absolutely help to drive change, there’s a different kind of satisfaction that comes from knowing that your coverage might be used to help spark a lawsuit that could help curb harmful behavior.”
Looking forward in his career, Hrehor hopes to keep doing work that holds powerful institutions accountable and helps move the needle.
Life Beyond the Redwoods features 10 Class of 2025 alumni who share how their time at UC Santa Cruz prepared them to launch their careers one year after graduation.