Acclaimed journalist Ann Curry will visit Colgate on Monday, April 22, to discuss issues such as climate change and the future of journalism in a fireside chat open to the public. Part of the annual Milmoe Workshop in Journalism, Curry’s talk will be hosted by the Colgate Maroon-News and the Kerschner Family Global Leaders Lecture Series.

The fireside chat will occur at 6:30 p.m. at a location to be announced and will be moderated by Randy Fuller, Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies.

Curry has contributed to groundbreaking journalism on climate change, documenting glacial melt in the Arctic, Antarctic and on Mount Kilimanjaro. She has interviewed both scientists and native peoples to convey multiple perspectives on the issue, and has also reported on the deepening drought in the western United States. Colgate’s own efforts to increase sustainability on campus and their achievement of carbon neutrality will be topics that come up in the question and answer discussion with Curry, which falls on Earth Day.

Curry is a former NBC News anchor and international correspondent who has also reported on Middle Eastern conflicts, nuclear tensions and natural disasters. She has traveled around the world, from the South Pole to Syria, breaking stories and scoring exclusive interviews with world leaders. She was the first to break the news of Iran seeking a nuclear agreement deal with the outside world and her calls for help are credited with speeding up the humanitarian relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Curry joined NBC in 1990 and rose through the ranks to become co-anchor of “Today” in 2011. She left the show in 2012 amid rumors that her co-host, Matt Lauer, had pushed her out. After Lauer was fired from the network in November of 2018 due to sexual misconduct allegations, Curry told “CBS This Morning” that she was “not surprised by the allegations.” Curry also spoke to USA Today about the #MeToo movement’s ability to challenge traditional systems in place in the media.

“What we’ll need is systemic change,” Curry said. “We are way overdue to ending this. I say ‘enough.’ Enough. And what we need to do is to balance the power.”

Her current venture, PBS series “We’ll Meet Again,” is a project led by three women: Curry, PBS programming chief Beth Hoppe and executive producer Justine Kershaw.

Every year, the Colgate Maroon-News hosts the Milmoe Workshop in Journalism, an opportunity for the Colgate community to learn from an experienced journalist. The event typically consists of a private workshop with the student newspaper staff followed by a lecture that is open to the campus and the public. Recent speakers have included Ronan Farrow, David Fahrenthold and Sacha Pfeiffer.

The Maroon-News receives the funding for the Milmoe Workshop in Journalism from the family of alumnus Cornelius ‘“Laddie” Milmoe ’30.

Contact Karrie Spychalski at [email protected].