Venerable Journalist Connie Chung Visits HGSE

On Sunday, March 30, Harvard Graduate School of Education was honored to host legendary journalist Connie Chung as part of this year’s Let’s Talk! Conference, an annual event promoting the success and well-being of Asian and Asian American students. The conference — which invites esteemed trailblazers from various fields to share their insights with the HGSE community and beyond — chose Connie Chung as this year’s speaker as a nod to her groundbreaking career, which includes serving as a news anchor and reporter on major U.S. television news networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and more. 

The two hour-long event, which saw 500 registrants from the Harvard and broader Boston community, featured a Q&A with Chung moderated by Senior Lecturer Josephine Kim, director of the School Counseling Licensure Pathway. The discussion touched upon topics ranging from Chung’s illustrious journalism — which included exclusive interviews with U.S. President Richard Nixon during the Watergate Scandal — to more personal topics, such as her family history growing up in a Chinese immigrant family as the youngest of 10 children, as detailed in her recently released memoir. 

The chat concluded with a heart-warming surprise: a video, made by the Let’s Talk! team, in which various community members from HGSE and beyond shared tributes to Chung’s inimitable legacy (which includes inspiring a generation of women to be named “Connie” after her). In the video, which brought Chung to tears, community members praised her unwavering commitment to advancing truth through journalism and public media — and doing so with her razor-sharp intelligence, trademark wit, and impeccable style. 

Photos: LD Tran

For more information about the event, as well as past Let’s Talk! Conferences, please visit the Let's Talk! website.