Sports, politics and activism collide in ‘An Evening with Jemele Hill’

Nationally known sports journalist and activist Jemele Hill will speak at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 30, in Popp Martin Student Union, Room 340, as a part of the Forty-Niner Forum Speaker Series.

Nadia Campbell, assistant director of Leadership and Community Engagement in the Division of Student Affairs, said. “Jemele Hill’s advice on exploring reactions to free speech, as well as her thoughts on fearless activism, will be a poignant conversation for UNC Charlotte students and the larger Charlotte community.”

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Hill attended Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. She began her career at the Raleigh News & Observer before returning to Michigan to become a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press, primarily covering Michigan State football and basketball games. While there, she covered the 2004 Summer Olympics and NBA Playoffs.

Hill joined ESPN in 2006 as a national columnist for ESPN.com. She made regular appearances on “SportsCenter” and several other ESPN programs, such as “First Take,” “Outside the Lines” and “The Sports Reporters.” In 2007, she received the inaugural Van McKenzie Cup, created to recognize a journalist who best exemplifies the traits of the innovative sports editor for whom it is named.

In 2011, Hill and Michael Smith began the podcast “His & Hers.” Its popularity led to ESPN adding Hill to Smith’s ESPN2 show “Numbers Never Lie,” which was renamed to “His & Hers” a year later. The show aired successfully for six years, when Hill and Smith became evening anchors of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

Hill recently joined The Atlantic, where she will share her perspective on how politics, race, gender and culture align. Her Oct. 30 talk is free and open to the public.

The Forty-Niner Forum Speakers Series committee is made up of students who are responsible for gauging the interests of the campus community and supplying the greater Charlotte region with dynamic, diverse and engaging speakers.