The 11th annual Schieffer Symposium will be held in Ed Landreth Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on April 8.
Four panelists will be attending with Bob Schieffer.
The guests will include: Gayle King, Co-Anchor of “CBS This Morning” and Editor-at-Large for “O, The Oprah Magazine;” Holly Williams, CBS News foreign correspondent; Dan Balz, Washington Post political correspondent; and P.J. O’Rourke, political satirist and journalist.
This information was released in an email from Schieffer College of Communication Dean David Whillock.
Schieffer, a TCU graduate from the class of 1959, has hosted the event every year since its creation. He also hand-picks the candidates.
“Obviously he picks people that he feels are going to be able to speak to current news events and things going on in the world today,” Margaret Kelly, executive director of community projects who handles the logistics of events like the symposium at TCU, said.
Kelly has been assisting Schieffer in putting together the symposium since it started in March of 2005. Kelly ensures all necessary materials and marketing responsibilities are handled for the symposium and several events surrounding it.
Current events such as the growing ISIS situation are likely to be discussed as Holly Williams has previously reported from Syria and Gaza Strip, Kelly said.
Whillock said the wide range of different types of journalists is one of the things that will make this year’s symposium so valuable for students.
“There are so many opportunities here,” Whillock said. “When you look at that list of people, they can discuss all of these stories.”
The panelists and Schieffer meet 30 minutes before the symposium begins to discuss what will be covered during the event, Kelly said.
“What I enjoy the most is getting to meet people of that caliber,” Kelly said. “Sitting in the green room [before the symposium] and hearing Bob [Schieffer] and these four panelists just throwing ideas back and forth. It’s sort of a mental jam session.”
The symposium has been a widely covered event, one that brings national media to TCU’s campus.
“It brings a focus to TCU,” Whillock said. “We have an opportunity here to beat our chest a little bit and we should.”
The event is open to both students and alumni but measures will be taken to ensure that students will attend the event. Tickets are free for students and approximately 300 seats are set aside specifically for students.
Tickets go on sale March 6 and students should email [email protected] to reserve their tickets.
The event usually sells out Ed Landreth Auditorium which has a maximum capacity of 1,200, both Whillock and Kelly said.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of the Schieffer College of Communication as the Schieffer School of Journalism. The story has been updated to reflect the change.
