|
 John
Quiñones, the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of ABC newsmagazine
“Primetime” and anchor of the show’s limited series “What Would You Do?”
will be honored May 23 at California State University, Fresno’s 33rd
annual Latino Commencement Celebration.
The event, which is free and open to the public, begins with
entertainment at 5:45 p.m. in the Save Mart Center on campus. Nearly 600
students are expected to participate in the ceremony, which begins at
6:30. The celebration closes a day that begins with the university’s
98th Commencement that morning.
“John Quiñones was selected as this year's honoree because of his strong
faith in humanity, his commitment to exposing injustice and his belief
that education is the best way to achieve political, social and economic
equality for Latinos,” said Dr. Luz Gonzalez, dean of the College of
Social Sciences, which sponsors the celebration.
She noted that Quiñones’ upbringing as a migrant farmworker picking
cherries in Michigan and Ohio “parallels the lives of so many of the
first-generation students at our university.”
“His reporting on immigration at the Texas border has put a light on the
issues that affect the lives of many of us in the San Joaquin Valley,”
Gonzalez added. “He, too, has experienced the difficulties of learning a
second language to achieve the ’American dream’ and carve out a place
for himself amongst national journalists. He is ‘lo mejor de lo nuestro’
[‘the best of us’] and a genuine role model for Latinos.”
Quiñones has been with ABC nearly 25 years, reporting extensively for
ABC News, predominantly serving as a correspondent for “Primetime” and
“20/20.”
His work for “What Would You Do?” captures people’s reactions when
confronted with dilemmas compelling them to either act or walk away.
Quiñones has won seven national Emmy Awards and numerous other honors
for his work on stories ranging from the Congo’s virgin rainforest and
Amazonian Yanomamo Indians to a report on the homeless children of
Bogota, Colombia, and children sugar cane cutters in the Dominican
Republic.
He also wrote “Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices,”
published this year by HarperCollins.
Quiñones received a master’s degree from the Columbia School of
Journalism and makes his home in New York City.
The Latino Commencement Celebration at Fresno State is the best-attended
ceremony of its kind in the nation, said Gonzalez. About 10,000
graduates, family members and guests attended last year.
For more information about Latino Commencement Celebration, call
559.278.3013.
|
