A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who directed his paper’s coverage of September 11, and a “Ground Zero” volunteer will share the podium during a special Washington University Assembly Series event marking the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States.
The event, which is the first lecture of the Assembly Series’ fall 2002 season, will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 11 in Graham Chapel.
The Assembly Series program dedicated to the anniversary of 9/11 is the first of two events planned by Washington University that day. An evening program, set for the Quad at 7 p.m., will offer another opportunity for reflection and remembrance. The evening program will offer brief remarks from members of the Washington University community, a choral and dance performance, and a candlelight vigil.
In addition, Washington University will host a blood drive from 5 — 10 p.m. in Friedman Lounge, Wohl Center.
All Assembly Series programs are also free and open to the public and held primarily in Graham Chapel. The chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Center (6445 Forsyth Blvd.) on the Washington University campus. For Assembly Series information, visit the Web page http://www.wupa.wustl.edu/assembly.
As national editor for the Boston Globe, Kenneth J. Cooper is responsible for the paper’s domestic news coverage, and it is from this vantage point that he will share the challenges inherent in covering the unprecedented disaster as it unfolded. Sarah M. Kaufman, a recent Washington University graduate who now lives and works in New York City, will discuss her experience as a volunteer near “Ground Zero.”
For most of Cooper’s 25 years in journalism, he has focused on government, politics and social issues. A Washington University graduate, his first job was with the St. Louis American, then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He left St. Louis in 1980 to join the Boston Globe as a reporter covering general assignments, the Boston schools and the Massachusetts State House. It was at the Globe, at the age of 28, that Cooper received a Pulitzer Prize for his contribution to a 13-part series called “The Race Factor.” The expose examined institutional racism in Boston, focusing on affirmative action at private colleges in the Boston area and comparing race relations in the New England city to those in Philadelphia and Miami.
In 1986, Cooper became the first African-American national correspondent of the Knight-Ridder newspaper group, covering major political stories including the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael S. Dukakis. From there he went to the i, covering national education issues, as well as Congress. From 1996 to 1999, Cooper served as the Post’s South Asia bureau chief, where he covered eight developing nations.
In addition, Cooper has penned a Washington column as well as feature stories for the now-defunct Emerge magazine, and for Essence, Black Issues in Higher Education, St. Louis Journalism Review, ThinkIndia.com and the Washington University Magazine.
Before graduating from Washington University in 1977, where he received a degree in English, Cooper was active in campus activities, serving in student government and the Association of Black Students, and being the news editor of Student Life, the campus newspaper.
Cooper remains an active alumnus and is a member of the board that publishes and advises Student Life. In 1989, Cooper received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Active in professional organizations, he belongs to the National Association of Black Journalists, and for several years he directed a minority journalism workshop for high school students.
Sarah M. Kaufman graduated from Washington University in 2001, where she studied science writing with a focus on computer science. Throughout her tenure, she was active in a number of student organizations. She wrote for Student Life, served as an editor for four years, and helped facilitate the incorporation of the newspaper. She was a member of Thurtene, a junior honorary, serving as vice president of that organization and helping organize the student-run Thurtene Carnival. Furthermore, Kaufman served as a counselor for new students and led an “alternative” spring break program for students to refurbish homes for low-income families.
Since graduating from Washington University, Kaufman has worked as communications associate with The New York Academy of Medicine, a non-profit medical research institution dedicated to enhancing the health of the public in urban areas.
Originally from New Rochelle, NY, and now a resident of New York City, Kaufman was more than 100 blocks from the twin towers when they were hit, but volunteered late nights weekly for several months afterwards at a refreshment tent near Ground Zero. She has also attended recently-held public meetings to discuss future plans for the World Trade Center site.
The public is welcome to all the above-mentioned events. For additional information, call 314-935-4620 or visit the university Web page (http://www.wustl.edu).