GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Announces Winners of 2025 Crimson Honors College Scholarship
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has announced the winners of its latest Crimson Honors college scholarship contest, awarding three LGBTQ+ public college students $1000 each for excellence in entertainment criticism or journalism. The students, either current attendees or recent graduates of a school in the United States or its territories, will also receive two years of free membership in GALECA as well as mentorship from one of the membership association’s 560 established entertainment journalists.
The champion young journalists are: Fabiana Garcia Calvillo, a student at Georgia State University; Zipporah Pruitt, a 2025 graduate of California State University, Northridge; and Nicholas York, from Massachusetts’ Worcester State University as well as Cornell University. Another student, Ariel Rivera of Florida International University, was singled out with an Honorable Mention for his work.
One of this year’s contest judges, Jose Solís Mayen—who began as a film critic in Honduras and now lives in Spain and has been published in outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, and Toronto Star—said he was thrilled by the quality of the candidates’ submissions.
“My favorite part about being a judge for this year’s GALECA Crimson Honors was seeing that the field we love so much remains so alive with such vibrant new voices,” he said. Solís Mayen, founder and director of BIPOC Critics Lab, a training program for cultural critics of the future, said “was profoundly moved and entertained by the variety of submissions we received, each of them showing deep passion for cinema and for establishing a conversation between the medium and the audience. I believe that in Nicholas, Fabiana, Zipporah, and Ariel, the judges saw ourselves reflected—their playfulness, excitement, and love for film reminded us of ourselves when we were getting started. I can’t wait to see what these brilliant minds do next.”
GALECA board member Grace Han moved from last year’s judging panel to leading the entire Crimson Honors program in 2025. “I have been humbled by the brilliance of our submissions, the rigor of our judges, and the generosity of our mentors,” said Han. “This year, GALECA received twice the number of submissions, and we are also launching our first-ever mentorship program for our three winners. Initiatives to support young queer voices in entertainment, like our Crimson Honors, are critical in these tumultuous times.”
About GALECA’s 2025 Crimson Honors
Nicholas York, from Massachusetts’ Worcester State University and Cornell University, began writing film reviews in high school, combining his passion for writing with his love of film. From there, he started a personal blog, began writing theater reviews for Worcester State University’s student newspaper, and even got an assignment from the paper at the private Cornell—all while volunteering at several at-risk LGBTQ youth charities. After transferring to Cornell, he joined the arts and culture section of the campus outlet Daily Sun, excited to recommend films to a wider audience. “I’ve written about some of my favorite filmmakers and even had the opportunity to cover the Sundance Film Festival,” York told GALECA. “Film criticism has given me the opportunity to explore the current cultural climate through art and start a conversation among fellow students.” This upcoming year, York is looking forward to continuing his own film review column, “Projections,” for the Sun, while also serving as editor-in-chief for Cornell’s CineJournal. York will be mentored by Pittsburgh-based GALECA member Tina Kakadelis, news editor for Film Obsessive and purveyor of her own film-and-TV-musings site, Beyond the Cinerama Dome.
Fabiana Garcia Calvillo, a student at Georgia State University, says that classes in film and entertainment criticism helped open her world by teaching her to think about the deeper meanings behind these artistic forms. Said Garcia Calvillo: “Deconstructing the media we love has helped me feel closer to myself and others, to understand why and how film speaks to our feelings and experiences.” Upon graduating Georgia State University with a B.A. in film and media and minor in journalism, she would love to be able to write criticism professionally. For now, she helps champion the indie and cult classics at the Plaza Theatre, Atlanta’s longest continuously operating independent movie theater. She also runs the documentary film club at her former high school, Cristo Rey Atlanta. Garcia Calvillo will be mentored by Jose Solís Mayen, founder and director, BIPOC Critics Lab.
Zipporah Pruitt, a 2025 graduate of California State University, Northridge with a major in journalism and minor in pop culture studies, is the first person in her family to graduate from college. A proud bisexual African-American with a passion for both entertainment and empowerment, she received both the Golden Globe Foundation Diversity Fund Scholarship and the Lynne M. Doll Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of the late crisis communications expert. Pruitt’s experience as an entertainment writer for the Black-centric lifestyle site The Knockturnal, an academics desk editor for The Sundial, and a freelance journalist for YR Media—a platform for emerging BIPOC content creators—has all led her to plan to pursue a career in entertainment media.
“As an only child raised by a single mother, the media brought me comfort and helped shape my unique identity,” Pruitt said. “Through journalism, I amplify diverse stories, challenge stereotypes, and advocate for authentic representation.” With GALECA’s help, she hopes to join a new generation of critics who highlight the meaning and cultural impact of media. “I believe thoughtful criticism supports the creation of meaningful stories and fosters deeper conversations. As a Black and queer woman, I’m especially committed to uplifting narratives that reflect queer, BIPOC, and neurodivergent experiences. I want to help expand the space for these voices in mainstream media.”
Pruitt will be paired with GLAAD Media Award winner Dino-Ray Ramos as her mentor. The former Deadline editor is the founder of DIASPORA, a digital publishing platform whose mission aligns closely with her own. Ramos, a longtime GALECA member, created DIASPORA to lift up marginalized communities in film, TV, and media, saying his goal is to “shine a definitive, authentic spotlight on people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, the disabled community, and other historically underrepresented voices.”
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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