Award-winning Journalist Roland Martin to Address Bowie State Commencement

About 750 BSU Students Set to Receive Their Degrees

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – Award-winning journalist Roland S. Martin will address about 750 Bowie State University graduates and their families at the spring commencement on Friday, May 17, 2019, at 10 a.m. at Bulldog Stadium. View it live online.

Over the course of a journalistic career, Martin has interviewed powerful influencers from multiple U.S. presidents to the top athletes and entertainers in Hollywood. He is currently the host and managing editor of #RolandMartinUnfiltered, the first daily online show in history focused on news and analysis of politics, entertainment, sports, and culture from an explicitly African American perspective.

Since 2008, he has been a senior analyst for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, where his daily segment is heard on more than 100 stations reaching 8 million people daily. Martin spent six years as a CNN contributor, appearing on numerous shows and earning accolades near and far for his no-holds-barred honesty, conviction and perspective on various issues. In 2009, CNN was awarded the Peabody Award for its outstanding 2008 election coverage, of which Martin was a member of the Best Political Team on Television.

He is the author of three books, including “The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin,” and has contributed to several others. Martin is a four-time NAACP Image Award winner, including being named Best Host for the last two years. He has been named four times by Ebony magazine as one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans and has been named several times to The Root 100, its annual list of influential African Americans. When Jet magazine readers voted in 2012 for who is “King of the Hill” in terms of who they turn to on issues of concern to African Americans, Martin came out on top. He has also been named the country’s number one Black pundit by NewsOne.com and one of the top 50 political pundits by the Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom.

Martin has received more than 30 awards for journalistic excellence, including being named the Journalist of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) for his extensive focus on voter suppression and other issues of concern to African Americans during the 2012 election. He was also awarded the NABJ President’s Award for his work in multiple media platforms and was inducted into the Texas A&M University Journalism Hall of Honor.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas A&M University.

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit www.bowiestate.edu.