Diversity: On TV, Behind the Scenes, and in our Lives

7:30 p.m. / March 8, 2010 / Ruby Grand Hall, The Erickson Alumni Center

Cosponsored by the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research. Reception and book signing will follow the lecture.

Soledad O’Brien is an anchor and special correspondent for CNN: Special Investigations Unit. She joined CNN in 2003 as the co-anchor of the network’s flagship morning program, American Morning. Her initiative, “Children of the Storm,” provided video cameras to young Hurricane Katrina survivors so they could tell their stories in their own words and images.

O’Brien came to CNN from NBC News, where she had anchored the network’s Weekend Today. She covered John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane crash and the school shootings in Colorado and Oregon. In 2003, she covered the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and later anchored NBC’s weekend coverage of the war in Iraq.

The NAACP honored her with its President’s Award in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and journalistic excellence. She also received the first annual Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award, created in her honor by Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine. The award honors mid-career professionals who serve as catalysts for social change within their fields.

In 2006, the National Urban League awarded her its Women of Power award. She also won a local Emmy for her work as a co-host on Discovery Channel’s The Know Zone. O’Brien earned the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Cable in 2006 and has received honorary degrees from Siena College and Mercy College. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. O’Brien is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English and American literature.