Miami Herald columnist wins 2006 McGruder diversity award

Leonard Pitts Jr., a Pulitzer Prize winner and columnist for the Miami Herald, is the recipient of the 2006 Robert G. McGruder Award.

The Award recognizes the accomplishments of media professionals who encourage diversity in the field of journalism.

The McGruder award was part of the fourth annual “Celebration of Diversity in the Media” in October, sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Kent State Office of Diversity and Academic Initiatives.



Leonard Pitts

The day included the Robert G. McGruder Lecture, awards program and luncheon.

Members of the news media from across Northeast Ohio attended the luncheon prior to the awards program. Kent State President Lester Lefton and Provost Paul Gaston addressed the group at lunch and

talked about the university’s commitment to diversity.

Also at the luncheon, Steve Michael, vice provost of Diversity and Academic Initiatives, presented Wayne Dawson, a 1979 Kent State graduate and co-anchor of “Fox 8 News in the Morning” on WJW-TV in Cleveland, with the Diversity in Media and Leadership Award.

Dawson was recognized for his unprecedented participation in the McGruder lecture program for the past two years. This is the first year for the Media award.


Previous McGruder Award Winners

Previous winners of the McGruder Award include (top, from left): Greg Moore, editor of the Denver Post, 2003; David Lawrence, retired Knight-Ridder news executive, 2004; and Al Fitzpatrick, retired executive editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, 2005. At the right is Bob McGruder, late editor of the Detroit Free Press and a 1963 graduate of Kent JMC.

About Pitts:

Pitts is a former writer for Casey Kasem’s radio program “American Top 40.” He joined the Miami Herald in 1991 as a pop music critic, but his passion and concern about social issues drove him to start what is now a nationally syndicated commentary column.

Pitts is well-known for his column on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, “We’ll Go Forward From This Moment.” The angry and defiant open letter to the unnamed terrorists was widely circulated on the Internet and frequently quoted in the press. It began: “You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.”

About McGruder:

The late Bob McGruder, a 1963 Kent State graduate, was a pioneer in both diversity and in the field of journalism. He was the first black editor of the Daily Kent Stater, and the first black reporter for The Plain Dealer. In 1995 he was the first black to become president of the Associated Press Managing Editors group and in 1996 the first black editor at the Detroit Free Press.

“Please know that I stand for diversity,” McGruder once said. “I represent the African-Americans, Latinos, Arab-American, Asians, Native Americans, gays and lesbian, women and all the others we must see represented in our business offices, newsrooms and our newspapers.”

--Story by Dana Rader

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