BET’s Ed Gordon to speak at annual MLK celebration

January 4, 2016
Categories: General News Tags: Student Affairs

Ed Gordon, an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster for BET, will be the keynote speaker for the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

The theme for the 2016 MLK celebration is “Advancing the Dream: A Call to Action.” This free, public event, sponsored by the Multicultural Resource Center, will feature the keynote presentation, recognition of campus partners and a candle-lighting ceremony. A community reception will follow the program in the Cone Center Lucas Room.

Gordon has held many roles at BET including host of “BET Tonight,” anchor of “BET News” and creator of “Conversations with Ed Gordon.” During his career, Gordon has been a contributing correspondent for CBS’s “60 Minutes” and a contributor for NBC’s “Today Show” and “Dateline.” He is the recipient of a number of honors, including the NAACP Image Award and the Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Detroit-born Gordon earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science from Western Michigan University. He started his broadcasting career in the early 1980s at the PBS affiliate in Detroit.

Gordon has covered many of the world’s most defining events from the 2008 U.S. presidential election to the freedom of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela to the beating of Rodney King to upheaval in Haiti and Cuba. He also provided comprehensive coverage on many other domestic and international affairs, including the Sept. 11 attacks and coverage of the 2012 Presidential election.

His interview subjects include former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, comedian Steve Harvey and Michael Jackson.

Gordon is the creator of “Daddy’s Promise,” an initiative that encourages fathers to become more involved in the lives of their daughters. This project was created after he wrote a story describing the close relationship he shares with his daughter, Taylor. Gordon and the initiative have been part of fatherhood summits with President Obama at the White House.