A brand new collection of conversations connecting the George Washington College group with influential journalists and thought leaders will debut this spring at Faculty of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), which is a part of the Colombian School of Arts and Sciences.
alumni Ted Segal, BA ’03, and Meredith Perla Segal, B. Accy. ’05, established the endowment fund to honor the contributions of the previous SMPA director Frank Sesno. These annual occasions purpose to advertise crucial civil discourse, public understanding, and enrichment of pupil experiences at GW.
The collection will study tendencies within the media, spotlight compelling public figures, and supply insightful evaluation of present occasions, comparable to nationwide elections and overseas coverage.
“I’m honored past phrases by this outstanding present and the collection it’ll help,” mentioned Sesno, who’s at present SMPA’s Director of Strategic Initiatives. All through every dialog, “we’ll discover the concepts that form our world. We’ll probe the alternatives and challenges going through our democracy. We’ll ask powerful questions in pursuit of uplifting and factual civil discourse. That is what GW stands for.
With the political enviornment more and more outlined by rancorous partisan divisions, the collection is meant as a platform for enhanced civil discourse. “If we will do a small half to broaden the views of our viewers, to raise the dialogue, it’ll do an incredible service to our GW group, to the DC group and to the nationwide dialog,” mentioned Ted Segal, Founder and President. . of the EJS Group, an actual property growth and financing firm.
Longtime supporters of many GW initiatives in addition to causes comparable to sort 1 diabetes analysis, meals insecurity and veterans service organizations, the Segals got here up with the collection in honor of the profession. Senso’s greater than three a long time in journalism and his 11 years of service as director of the SMPA. Additionally they hope to reveal college students throughout the college to stimulating and respectful conversations throughout the political and cultural spectrums.
“Whether or not a pupil is finding out SMPA, engineering or anthropology, I hope they will take positives from these discussions and even perhaps broaden the views by means of which they method a given subject,” Segal mentioned. , member of SMPA Nationwide Council.
“This new dialog collection showcases the SMPA group at its finest, giving SMPA college students, alumni and college the chance to work together immediately with the main and influential voices of our time,” mentioned the SMPA Director. Silvio Waisbord. “My honest due to Ted and Meredith Segal for this beneficiant donation, which acknowledges Frank Sesno’s contributions as a stellar organizer of public conversations.”
An Emmy Award-winning journalist, Sesno’s various profession consists of 21 years at CNN the place he served as a White Home correspondent, anchor and Washington bureau chief. He has lined a spread of subjects, from politics and conventions to worldwide summits and local weather change, and has interviewed 5 US presidents and hundreds of political, enterprise and civic leaders. In 2009, he based planet forwardan SMPA mission that rewards artistic environmental storytelling by college students and promotes sustainability and motion on subjects comparable to vitality coverage, inexperienced jobs and meals manufacturing.