Schultz writes about current issues and politics in her column for Creators Syndicate, and she has a feature column in Parade Magazine. She also hosts a popular Facebook page that fosters civil discussion and debate about a variety of controversial topics.
On May 13, Schultz will serve as the College’s 2016 May Commencement keynote speaker. Dean Maryanne Reed says Schultz is guaranteed to deliver an inspiring address to media graduates.
“Connie Schultz is an amazing writer and journalist with a strong independent voice,” said Dean Reed. “But she’s also able to bring people together across political lines to grapple with controversial issues and find common ground.”
In 2005, Schultz won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for columns that judges praised for “providing a voice for the underdog and the underprivileged.” Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, Parade, The Atlantic, ESPN Magazine, and Democracy Journal.
Schultz also won the 2005 Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Commentary and the National Headliner Award for Commentary. In 2003, she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing for her series, “The Burden of Innocence,” which chronicled the ordeal of Michael Green, who was imprisoned for 13 years for a rape he did not commit. The week after her series ran, the real rapist turned himself in after reading her stories. The series won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting, the National Headliner Award’s Best of Show and journalism awards from Harvard and Columbia universities.
She won the Batten Medal in 2004, which honors “a body of journalistic work that reflects compassion, courage, humanity and a deep concern for the underdog.”
Schultz is a fellow with the Vietnam Reporting Project. Her 2011 series, “Unfinished Business,” explored the long-term impact of Agent Orange in the U.S., and in Vietnam. The series won The Associated Press Managing Editors Journalism Excellence Award in International Perspective. She has received six honorary degrees and has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror for the last two years.
Schultz is the author of two books published by Random House: “Life Happens – And Other Unavoidable Truths,” a collection of essays, and ”and His Lovely Wife,” a memoir about her husband Sherrod Brown’s successful 2006 race for the U.S. Senate. She is currently working on her first novel.
In addition to her journalism career, Schultz is also an educator. She is currently serving as Professional in Residence at Kent State University.
The College of Media’s Commencement ceremony will be Friday, May 13, at 9:00 a.m. in the WVU Coliseum.