Journalist Soledad O鈥橞rien To Give MLK Keynote Address Feb. 8
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Award-winning broadcast journalist Soledad O鈥橞rien, host of the nationally syndicated television talk show 鈥淢atter of Fact with Soledad O鈥橞rien,鈥� will give the keynote address for Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Part of CMU鈥檚 University Lecture Series, O鈥橞rien will speak at 5 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Feb. 8 in the Cohon University Center鈥檚 Rangos Ballroom.
Attendance for the live in-person talk is limited and masks are required to follow COVID-19 protocols. O鈥橞rien鈥檚 address also will be livestreamed. Those wishing to view the broadcast in person or online must .
O鈥橞rien, a frequent guest speaker on college campuses, is expected to speak about systemic racism and how each one of us can help in dismantling racial injustice. She�will speak candidly about the challenges of equality and justice in cities, where efforts are underway to reform policing, incarceration, education and land ownership.
鈥淲e must be open to inquiry and dialogue around equity and justice, especially the kind of inquiry and dialogue that is brave and impactful in dismantling systemic racism and other forms of oppression,鈥� said Wanda Heading-Grant, CMU鈥檚 vice provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer.
鈥淚 believe Soledad O鈥橞rien鈥檚 personal and professional insights through her journey as a journalist will help us as a community elevate Rev. Dr. King, Jr.鈥檚 legacy, inform our own diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and advance them forward,鈥� Heading-Grant said.
The daughter of Australian and Cuban immigrants, O鈥橞rien is the CEO of Soledad O鈥橞rien Productions, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling stories on a range of social issues. She is the author of two books, and
O鈥橞rien has anchored news programs on CNN, MSNBC and NBC, and was a special correspondent on Al Jazeera鈥檚 鈥淎merica Tonight,鈥� for which she produced several documentaries on social issues.
At CNN, she created the 鈥淚n America鈥� documentary series, including 鈥淏lack in America鈥� and 鈥淟atino in America.鈥� She hosted 鈥淎merican Injustice鈥� a BET Town Hall on the future of criminal justice reform, and the A&E special 鈥淪hining a Light: Conversations on Race in America.鈥�
O鈥橞rien won three Emmy awards. She was honored for her coverage of the Haiti earthquake, the 2012 election and a series called 鈥淜ids and Race.鈥� She won two George Foster Peabody awards for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina and her reporting on the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill. CNN received the Alfred I. DuPont Award for her reporting on the tsunami in Southeast Asia. In 2006, O鈥橞rien was featured in Newsweek as one of 鈥�15 People Who Make America Great.鈥�