Award-winning author and New York Times columnist Samuel Freedman comes to Whitman

Whitman College welcomes Samuel G. Freedman, award-winning author, New York Times columnist and Columbia University professor, to talk about his newest book, "Breaking the Line: The Season in Black College Football that Transformed the Sport and Changed the Course of Civil Rights". The talk takes place on Oct. 7 at 7 P.M. in Maxey Auditorium, and will include a discussion of the book with Whitman's professor of history David Schmitz and athletics director Dean Snider, to be followed by a book signing.

A tenured professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Freedman was named the nation's outstanding journalism educator in 1997 by the Society of Professional Journalists, and his class in book-writing has developed more than 65 authors, editors, and agents.  

Prior to his talk, he will spend some time on campus meeting with staff and students, including a professional development workshop with student journalists at The Pioneer that will focus on a discussion of his book "Letters to a Young Journalist."  

Freedman's evening lecture will also act as a kick-off for the third year of Whitman Teaches the Movement project.  

Samuel Freedman is the author of seven acclaimed books, including "Small Victories"-a finalist for the 1990 National Book Award-and "The Inheritance", a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His book "Upon This Rock" won the 1993 Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and four of Freedman's works have been listed among The New York Times' Notable Books of the Year. Freedman was a staff reporter for The New York Times from 1981 through 1987 and currently writes the column "On Religion." He has contributed to numerous other publications and websites, including The New Yorker, Daily Beast, New York, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Salon, Tablet, The Forward, The Jerusalem Post and BeliefNet.  

Freedman's visit was organized by the Student Engagement Center.