Jessica York Graves ’03

Throughout her journalism career, colleagues say, Jessica York Graves ’03 was a hard-working, conscientious reporter who was dedicated to her craft and the communities she covered. A top-notch journalist, said one former editor, and an even better friend and better person.

For the past 11 years, that work and friendship was based at the Santa Cruz Sentinel in California, where Jess was a reporter covering public safety, courts, the city of Santa Cruz, crime and homelessness.

Her dedication to the craft shone through even in the dark moments: When she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2021, recalls former editor Melissa Murphy, one of her first concerns was that she wouldn’t be able to work.

“What I remember her saying was, ‘I want to continue to work if you’ll let me,’ and I was just so taken aback by her saying ‘Let me’ because she clearly wanted to keep working until she couldn’t,” Murphy told the Sentinel.

Jessica, who garnered praise for her empathetic reporting and was an avid runner and ardent fan of Dave Mathews Band and Guster, died on January 11, 2025, after a four-year battle with the rare disease.

She grew up in western Massachusetts, attending West Springfield High School. At UNH, she majored in journalism, worked at The New Hampshire student newspaper, interned at the Nashua Telegraph, wrote for Main Street Magazine and volunteered with The SHARPP Center for Interpersonal Violence Awareness, Prevention, and Advocacy.

After graduation, she moved to Vermont where she was a reporter at the Bennington Banner and met her future husband, Luke Graves, a graphic designer in the advertising department there. He and Jess later moved to California; they married in 2010.

Before the Sentinel, she had worked at the Vallejo Times-Herald. Editor Jack Bungart praised her as a smart and talented reporter.

“She just had a great understanding of stories and how to get stories and write good stories. … Any subject that she tackled, she really made herself know it,” he told the Sentinel.

Her journalistic roots first sprouted at the West Springfield Terrier Times, her high school newspaper. It was at West Springfield High where she met Craig Connors, who became a lifelong friend. Despite miles between them as adults, they always managed to make time for vacations and visits, concerts and festivals with their favorite bands. Connors recalls touring New England colleges during high school with Jessica, who he says knew right away she wanted to attend UNH. Financial support from the university made it possible for her to enroll.

That memory led him to create a scholarship at UNH to honor Jess and her legacy.

“I know there are other people out there who have the same passion for journalism, but may not be able to afford college financially. So I thought the best way to honor her would be to try to find more Jesses, and give them the opportunity to pursue the same thing,” Connors says.

Connors recalls the many talks after her diagnosis about her treatment and their shared fears, but notes, “Jess never stopped being herself through the whole thing; I feel like it weighs on us more because she was so relentlessly optimistic, right up until the end.”

It was her final show of resilience, Connors says — a trait she demonstrated throughout her life.

“What Jess would want [in terms of a scholarship recipient] is someone who didn’t have everything handed to them, but who still managed to excel in their own way. She would hope this helps someone who wasn’t very fortunate, but who didn’t let that stop them from pursuing their dreams.”