TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State University President, Deborah J. Curtis, announced Friday that the university will have an annual address in honor of the slain Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi is a 1983 alumnus of the university.
The creation of the address is to memorialize Khashoggi, to examine current issues related to journalism, the first amendment and the freedom of the press.
Speakers invited to the Jamal Khashoggi Annual Address will include prominent journalists, authors, filmmakers, photojournalists or other professionals working in the media, according to Libby Roerig with Indiana State University.
“I believe it is highly appropriate to pay tribute to Jamal Khashoggi’s lifelong career by providing an opportunity for these important issues to be discussed,” President Curtis said.
Khashoggi attended Indiana State for undergraduate studies from 1977 to 1982. Khashoggi was a critic of the Saudi government and was assassinated in early October 2018 after visiting the Saudi embassy in Turkey to obtain marriage document.
Khashoggi is among the journalists honored by Time magazine as its Person of the Year in 2018.
“The Guardians,” as the magazine dubbed them, were dedicated to the pursuit of truth despite a war on facts and tremendous obstacles, including violence and imprisonment. Khashoggi is the only Indiana State alumnus to receive the honor and the only person to be posthumously named a Person of the Year.
“A speaker series is essential to the vitality of an academic institution,” Greg Bierly, dean of the ISU Honors College, said. “Democracy thrives on the open exchange of ideas, and universities are the realm of test and trial for all manner of theories, explanations, proposals and solutions. Only when these environments are infused with the fresh perspectives of societal and professional leaders is knowledge advanced, debate made relevant and a student body given the tools to evaluate and improve the world.”
