January  08, 2008

Institute for Leadership and Service welcomes Callie Crossley for weeklong residency

Rock Island, Ill. - Award winning producer and journalist Callie Crossley will speak on the intersection of media, politics and young people during a weeklong residency later this month at Augustana College. Crossley, a former producer for ABC's "20/20," will present "Why Should Politics Matter to Young People?" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 16, in Augustana's Wallenberg Hall (inside Denkmann Memorial Hall, 3520 7th Ave.).With funding from Augustana's Institute for Leadership and Service, the lecture is open to the public, free of charge.

While visiting campus that week as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, Crossley will speak about her experience as a television and documentary producer in eight different classes as she also meets with students in a number of informal settings. Her weeklong residency is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Augustana's Institute for Leadership and Service.

'The interplay of politics and the media have become more pronounced in the months preceding the 2008 presidential election," said Dr. Ellen Hay, director of Augustana's Institute for Leadership and Service. "Ms. Crossley is in a unique position to consider how these factors influence young voters." The Institute for Leadership and Service was established by a gift from Augustana alumnus Perry Waughtal to bring a wide array of accomplished individuals to campus.

Crossley's television background includes more than 13 years as a producer for ABC's "20/20" as well as numerous public television programs. She wrote, directed and produced two programs for the Academy Award nominated series "Eyes on the Prize." The founder of Crosschannels, a media consulting group, she currently offers media commentary on PBS, ABC and CNN and is a weekly contributor to the National Public Radio program "NPR News and Notes." Crossley has received a national Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow Award, an award from American Women in Radio and Television, and the Golden Baton. She has served as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and also a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

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