May 05, 2008
WCBS-TV personality Dana Tyler,
co-anchor of New York’s local weekday newscasts, will give the
Commencement Address at St. John’s University’s Staten Island
Campus and receive an Honorary Doctoral Degree on Saturday, May 17,
2008.
The graduation
ceremonies will take place at the school’s Grymes Hill location
(300 Howard Avenue, Staten Island, NY) at 10 a.m. before more than
2,500 faculty, administrators, friends and family to honor the
graduating Class of 2008 totaling approximately 350 graduate and
undergraduate students.
“We are honored to have Dana Tyler, one of New York’s most
recognizable and well respected broadcast journalists, join us as
keynote speaker for St. John’s University’s 138th Annual
Commencement Exercises,” said Rev. Donald J.
Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s University. “As a
University with large undergraduate programs in Mass
Communications, we sought to honor someone who possesses our own
commitment to New York City and embodies the highest standards of
excellence. Dana Tyler is that someone and she will be an exemplary
role model to our graduating class in Staten Island.”
St. John’s University will bestow an Honorary Doctoral Degree
upon Tyler for her excellence in the field of journalism and
communications.
Tyler has been a key contributor to the CBS 2 news team for more
than 17 years. Her success has led to numerous industry honors,
most notably last year’s 2007 Black Broadcast Legends award given
by McDonald’s at the Museum of Television and Radio. Along
with her numerous Emmy Awards for broadcast coverage during her
celebrated career, the New York Association of Black Journalists
also honored her in 2006 for her reporting on “The Color
Purple.”
Known for her work in the local community and initiatives to
improve education, Tyler is a member of the Board of Trustees of
Learning Leaders, the 15,000-member volunteer organization
dedicated to New York City's 1.1 million public school students.
She also participates in station-sponsored events such as the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's "Walk to Cure Diabetes" and
the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure" to raise awareness for
fighting breast cancer.
An alumnus of Boston University, Tyler was honored in 1991 with
the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service by their School of
Management from which she graduated with a degree in marketing and
broadcast journalism. She has blazed a trail of success even as she
began her career teaming with the late Reggie Harris to become the
first African-American anchor team in the New York market on
WCBS-TV in 1990.
Tyler currently co-anchors the CBS 2 News at Noon and teams with
Jim Rosenfield for the weekday newscasts at 6 p.m.
For more information contact Dominic Scianna, Assistant Vice
President for Media Relations at St. John’s University by calling
(718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns.edu.
More information regarding St. John’s can be found by visiting
the University web site at www.stjohns.edu/news.