Emmy Award-winner Jemele Hill‘s appearance at the 2019 Norm Brewer Freedom of Speech lecture series is a significant event this spring for the University of Memphis. Even President M. David Rudd is tweeting about it.

Hey @jemelehill Good to see you're making your way to the University of Memphis for the Norm Brewer First Amendment Lecture, Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. University Center Theater. Looking forward to it.

— Dr. M. David Rudd (@UofMPastPres) February 21, 2019

Hill, now a staff writer at The Atlantic, is best known for her award-winning work at ESPN, where she served in a variety of roles on several of the sports network’s programs. Her outspoken commentary on social issues and American politics has been a cornerstone of her journalism and led to her popularity, not to mention earning her a two-week suspension from ESPN in 2017 following tweets she wrote about President Trump and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

https://youtu.be/X7FAau_ShI8

In March, Hill is launching a new podcast, “Unbothered,” that will explore “the news of the week, from sports to politics to music to identity to culture” and feature Hill and a rotating cast of guests, Variety has reported.

Norm Brewer, the lecture series’ namesake, died in 2010 after a renowned journalism career in Memphis at The Commercial Appeal and several Memphis television news stations. The series is sponsored by the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism and the U of M student chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Hill’s speech at the lecture series is 6 p.m. on March 12 in the University Center Theatre at the University of Memphis. The event is free and open to the public.

— Phillip Tutor, CCFA media coordinator, potutor@memphis.edu