WASHINGTON –  The Office of Development and Alumni Relations at Howard University will host Forward Thinking: A Bison Roundtable on Telling Our Story at 12 p.m. on Friday, July 24. The new series returns with special guest, Michelle Miller, CBS News national correspondent and Howard University alumna. Miller will join panelists for a discussion on ways to amplify the voices of communities of color during the global pandemic amid heightened racial injustice.

"Through reporting, I have found voices seeking to be agents of change, and in this instant, a movement recognizing that rooting out racism takes a lifelong commitment — an acknowledgment that its cloak of invisibility makes it far harder to recognize by those it does not impact,” said Miller. “Everyone must see in America who she was and who she is, in order to decide, who she wants to be."

In these unprecedented times of a global pandemic and racial justice protests, we’ve seen an outcry from communities, activists, faith groups, and organizations alike demanding for their voices to be heard and for definitive actions to be taken. The panel will bring together journalists and media experts to highlight the role that media plays in disseminating information, a fundamental role in the maintenance of a democratic society.

“The Department of Alumni Relations has been intentional in assembling University experts through our Forward Thinking: A Bison Round Table series to equip our Bison family with the knowledge they need to navigate these uncertain times,” said Sharon Strange Lewis, director of Alumni Relations. “Our very own Cathy Hughes School of Communications is the nation’s top producer of African American journalists and communications experts. Many of them, like Michelle Miller, are on the front lines shaping and sharing the narratives of our community.”

Miller joined CBS News in 2004 and she is the co-host of "CBS This Morning: Saturday." She has reported on national and international news, including high profile police and vigilante killings of unarmed Black men and the subsequent uprisings, especially in the cases of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown. Miller was on the ground in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. and has covered the March for Our Lives protest and gun control movement. She has won numerous awards for her journalism, including an Emmy for her reporting series on the National Guard’s Youth Challenge Academy and a Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the University are invited to participate in the virtual event by registering here. The full list of panelists is included below.

• Michelle Miller, National Correspondent, CBS Network
• Gracie Lawson-Borders, Ph.D., Dean, Cathy Hughes School of Communications
• Ingrid Sturgis, Associate Professor, Cathy Hughes School of Communications, former Editor, Essence.com
• Jennifer Thomas, Associate Professor, Cathy Hughes School of Communications, former Executive Producer, CNN
• Sheryl Johnson, Associate Professor, Cathy Hughes School of Communications, former Advertising Manager, Washington Post

Click here to register.

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About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Misha Cornelius, misha.cornelius@howard.edu