March 10-12: UD Women 100 years
Activist, journalist Laura Ling to speak during UD celebration of women
Editor's note: This article was updated at 4:15 p.m.,March 11, 2015.
Please note: The location of Laura Ling's talk has been changed to the Gore Recital Hall in the Roselle Center for the Arts. This event is sold out.
12:17 p.m., Feb. 13, 2015--The woman who was imprisoned in North Korea while reporting on human trafficking will tell her story on Wednesday, March 11, as part of a celebration marking the University of Delaware Women's College centennial.
In 2009, Laura Ling was a journalist with a penchant for taking on international, and sometimes dangerous, assignments. Working for Current TV, a media outlet launched by former Vice President Al Gore, Ling and her colleague Euna Lee suddenly found themselves at the center of an international diplomatic quagmire.
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The two women were arrested by North Korean authorities in March 2009 and charged with espionage while reporting from the border between North Korea and China. In June of that year they were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. With both women facing a perilous and uncertain future, Ling's sister Lisa, also a TV journalist, petitioned support from former President Bill Clinton, who brokered Ling and Lee’s release back to U.S. soil.
“Here I was in the most isolated country in the world, one that regards the United States as its arch enemy. Could not speak the language, did not know if I’d ever see my family again,” Ling said in a network TV interview about the moment she was captured and taken into custody by armed North Korean soldiers. “Didn’t know if I’d see the next day.”
Ling will be the featured speaker during a special, three-day celebration in March to honor the Women’s College Centennial and UD women for the past 100 years. It is part of a yearlong series of activities that began in fall 2014, including an event highlighting the history of Warner Hall, student-produced blogs, displays throughout the academic year, and the Women and Gender Studies colloquium.
Celebration of Excellence schedule
Tuesday, March 10
The celebration will launch with a roundtable discussion that models the television show The View, as select faculty members and students will speak about issues relevant to women in the world and on UD’s campus. 9:30-10:45 a.m., Bayard Sharp Hall.
Wednesday, March 11
Award-winning human rights activist and journalist Laura Ling will give the keynote address. Her book, Somewhere Inside, recounts her experience being captured by the North Koreans and being part of the first ever trial of an American citizen in North Korea’s highest court. She will sign copies of her book after her talk. This event is open and free to the public, but tickets are required for admission. Tickets are now available at the box offices in the Trabant University Center and at the Bob Carpenter Center. For a PDF flyer, click here. 6 p.m., Gore Recital Hall, Roselle Center for the Arts. This event is sold out.
Thursday, March 12
The celebration will conclude with the annual Women of Promise Dinner, which is designed to promote positive mentoring relationships between faculty and students. Women faculty members select exceptional women undergraduate and graduate students to accompany them to the dinner to honor their accomplishments and to encourage them to continue their success.
Keynote speaker at this year's event will be Amy DuBois Barnett, currently executive editor at ESPN and formerly editor-in-chief of Ebony, the oldest and largest African-American magazine in the country.
For the first time this year, the winners of the Bessie Collins Award and the Mae Carter Scholarship will be announced at this dinner.
For more information about any of these events, please contact the Office of the Provost at 302-831-2101 or send email to vpd@udel.edu.
Article by Jawanza Ali Keita