ISU announces lineup for 2020-21 Speakers Series

Portraits of four speakers: man with beard and suit smiling, woman with long dark hair smiling, man with short hair in suit, man with curly hair in suit.

Indiana State University’s 2020-21 Speaker Series will bring influential journalists and award-winning authors to campus in the spring.

All of the speakers are scheduled for the spring semester out of concern for safety during the pandemic.

CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers will open the series on February 2, 2021. He made history in 2006 at age 22 when he defeated a 26-year incumbent state representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature. He was the youngest African American elected official in the nation.

Soledad O’Brien, a broadcast journalist and executive producer of Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, is slated to speak on February 23, 2021. A champion for young women, she is founder of PowHERful, a foundation that mentors and funds college tuition and expenses for struggling young women.

Steve Inskeep, an author and host for NPR's “Morning Edition,” will speak on March 2, 2021. Inskeep, from Carmel, Indiana, has reported in countries across the globe. He is the author of books including “Jacksonland” and “Imperfect Union.”

The second Indiana State University Jamal Khashoggi Address on Journalism and the Media speaker will be Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist and reporter. Kristof has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to more than 150 countries. He will close out the Speaker Series season on March 23, 2021. He is the author of several books, including this year’s “Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope.”

All Speaker Series events will start at 7 p.m. at Tilson Auditorium at 7 p.m. The events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.hulmancenter.org or call 877-ISU-TIXS.

Media contacts:

Mark Alesia, Director of University Communication

(O) 812-237-3837

mark.alesia@indstate.edu

Dianne Powell, Associate Director of University Communication

(O) 812-237-8764

DianneFrances.Powell@indstate.edu