Seton Hall University to Present Robin Roberts With Lifetime Professional Achievement Award
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Co-Anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America," Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts, who has connected with athletes, entertainers, fans and viewers for
decades – first at ESPN and for the last 20 years on "Good Morning America" – will
be honored with a Lifetime Professional Achievement Award by the new Seton Hall University
Center for Sports Media at a special gala on Sept. 15 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea
Piers in New York City.
Roberts has been one of the preeminent broadcast journalists of her era. She has won
numerous Emmy Awards, including four at "Good Morning America," and most recently
the 2022 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show as host and executive
producer of "Turning the Tables" on Disney+. She was voted as the "Most Trusted Person
on Television" by a Reader's Digest poll in 2013, was honored with The Walter Cronkite
Award for Excellence in Journalism, and has been inducted into the Broadcasting &
Cable Hall of Fame and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. More importantly, she is
a two-time cancer survivor and has teamed with Be the Match to help raise awareness
for the need for bone marrow donors.
The Center for Sports Media at Seton Hall University was launched in the Fall of 2021
with a generous donation from sports journalist and Seton Hall alumnus Bob Ley '76,
who anchored the SportsCenter desk with Roberts at ESPN and on location at events
from Atlanta to South Africa.
"The Center for Sports Media is already bursting with activity benefiting our students,
and it holds tremendous promise," said Ley. "Our Gala on September 15th will gather
friends and supporters of the Center to celebrate our official launch and set our
ambitious course. To recognize my dear friend and colleague Robin with our inaugural
Award will cap the night, as she so perfectly embodies the professional and personal
qualities that will further inspire our students."
The Center for Sports Media is the latest forward-looking move from Seton Hall, where
a wide variety of top-ranked "Pirate" sports on the South Orange campus offers a learning
laboratory for students to hone the skills of modern storytelling, while getting an
education steeped in traditional journalistic principles.
"We are proud to be honoring Robin Roberts at this momentous occasion," noted Renee
Robinson, Ph.D., interim dean of Seton Hall's College of Communication and the Arts.
"She has helped convey countless powerful stories that touch our lives, while exercising
the highest journalistic standards through her lengthy and rich career. Her identity
as a woman of color in a field historically dominated by men is a beacon of hope for
many young people studying sports media at Seton Hall."
The University's undergraduate program in sports media has been growing tremendously
in the past few years, and the University has committed to expanding the resources
and opportunities for its students. In May, former ESPN reporter and columnist Jane
McManus was tapped as the Center's inaugural Executive Director. The Center hosts
guest professionals in the classroom, panel talks and conferences. It helps students
build robust portfolios, often covering events and stories about the BIG EAST athletes.
The Center also gives students the opportunity to network with top professionals in
the field, land internships and find top jobs when they graduate.
"At the Center for Sports Media, we are connecting the next generation of sports media
professionals with the tools they need to lead and succeed in a competitive industry," McManus
said. "Although our faculty is unparalleled, we couldn't do it without shining examples
of women and men in the field who have reported with dignity and empathy. Robin Roberts
is one of those examples, and we're thrilled she will be joining us to officially
launch the Center."
McManus spent nearly 10 years at ESPN covering the NFL and as a columnist for espnW,
and in 2018 became the director of the Center for Sports Communication at Marist College
in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She was also an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate
School of Journalism, where she received her Masters.
Tickets to the event and sponsorships are still available for the Gala on September
15, 2022, 6 p.m. at the premiere event venue in New York City: the newly re-designed
The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. Inquiries: www.shu.edu/sportsmediagala, (973) 378-9876, [email protected].
Categories: Alumni, Arts and Culture, Athletics