Cornell will welcome Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on Sept. 9 for the American Studies program’s annual Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press lecture.
Hannah-Jones is an award-winning journalist with nearly 50 national honors to her name. Throughout her career, she has reported on issues surrounding racial injustice, school resegregation and fair housing.
She currently is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and the creator of the Pulitzer-Prize winning 1619 Project, a NYT Magazine effort that published essays that “aim to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”
She is also the co-founder of Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, an organization that trains and mentors reporters of color in investigative reporting, in hopes of increasing representation in the field.
Hannah-Jones made national headlines this past summer when she was denied tenure at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after conservative opposition to her hiring. The news caused public outcry, leading UNC to retract their original offer and offer her tenure, which she turned down. She currently serves as Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University.
The Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press lecture is an annual lecture held at Cornell, aimed at bringing prominent figures in journalism to speak about the relationship between free press and a strong democracy. Previous speakers have included White House Correspondent April Ryan, war-time reporter Jeremy Scahill and Amjad Atallah, editor-in-chief of Al Jazeera America.
The event will take place in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium in Klarman Hall at 5 p.m. In-person attendance will be limited to members of the Cornell community. The event will also be livestreamed. More information can be found here.