WASHINGTON – Howard University announces the return of veteran political strategist and author Donna Brazile as the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy after previously serving as chair during the 2018-2019 academic year. Brazile will develop and host lecture a series to engage the Howard community on several subjects, including politics, voting, criminal justice reform, and civility. 

The first installment of this year’s series is titled, Millennial Voting Power in 2020: #Whatmatters2020 and will be held Thursday, September 26, at 5 p.m., inside the Founders Library Browsing Room. Brazile will moderate a conversation featuring Managing Director of Black Lives Matter Kailee Scales, and Howard University Student Association Director of Community and External Affairs William Pugh.

Brazile returns to Howard University as the first African American woman to direct a major presidential campaign, serving as Al Gore’s campaign manager in the 2000 election. She is the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-Ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House. She also authored the 2004 best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics.  She is a co-author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics, which won the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction.

Since 2008, the King Lecture Series has provided students access to experienced, senior public service executives who have developed and advanced public policy initiatives. The King Lecture Series is available for all Howard University students, faculty and staff with current ID. Space is limited. For RSVP to attend, email kinglectureseries@howard.edu. 

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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 four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. 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: Ramzey Smith, Office of University Communications, ramzey.smith@howard.edu