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U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will be the keynote speaker in a virtual ceremony sponsored by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications on March 26 at 7 p.m., the school announced Monday.

The prerecorded ceremony will honor the recipients of the Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting, which the Newhouse School sponsors to honor the work of Robin Toner, an SU graduate and the first female national correspondent for The New York Times. Melanie Hicken, a 2009 SU graduate and senior writer at CNN Investigates will serve as master of ceremonies. 

Toner Prizes are awarded for both local and national political reporting. Chancellor Kent Syverud and Newhouse Dean Mark Lodato will also speak at the ceremony. 

The Toner Prize was established by Toner’s friends, family and classmates after she died in 2008. The 2020 recipients included The Boston Globe for the national reporting prize and WBEZ in Chicago for the local reporting prize.

Booker ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary election before dropping out and endorsing Joe Biden. He currently serves on several Senate committees, including Foreign Relations and Judiciary. He has served in the Senate since 2013 and previously as mayor of Newark, New Jersey. 

Past keynote speakers for the event have included politicians such as Biden, former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

Published on March 8, 2021 at 8:41 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu