Opening this year's Distinguished Speaker Series, Today Show co-anchor Katie Couric addressed the UB and Buffalo community, baring all about her courageous rise from working at her college newspaper to being a prominent journalist.
President William R. Greiner introduced Couric to the Alumni Arena audience, detailing the many accomplishments of her life and journalistic career.
"(She is a) renowned news anchor and tireless campaigner for cancer awareness and other pressing social issues, and an accomplished and distinguished journalist and a very fine person," said Greiner.
Though her prestige has earned her the privilege of cellular phone calls from former President Jimmy Carter, Couric remains candid and friendly, even instructing one audience member to leave his phone number so that she could contact him at a later time.
Couric won the crowd as she mixed serious issues with levity, thanking the American Cancer Society for sponsoring her speech, while jabbing lightly at Buffalo mainstays such as the Anchor Bar and the Bills.
"The only Bill I knew before this was O.J. Simpson, and while he's out searching for the real killer, Drew Bledsoe is out searching for the Bills' missing defense," Couric said with a smile.
Couric's humor was not lost on the audience. Brian Butera, a freshman music theater major, said it was refreshing to see Couric in person.
"It gave a voice to her face that they show on TV every morning, it showed she is a charming lady with a brain outside the network," Butera said. "What makes her a great reporter is that she believes in what she does."
Couric's banter led into her discussion of serious world topics that her career forces her to face on a daily basis.
"It's wonderful to have an opportunity to speak with all of you tonight during the challenging times we are facing right now," said Couric. "I think for all of us, the world seems a lot scarier than it did just 13 months ago."
She pointed to military confrontation with Iraq, bio-terrorism and the faltering economy as areas of concern for all Americans, ranging from "overpaid news anchors to retirees in Fort Lauderdale and factory workers in Flint."
The energetic and well-spoken Couric put these issues aside to guide the lecture in another direction.
"I wanted to start tonight chatting about my favorite subject - me," she said.
Couric described the span of her 23-year career from the "sublime to the ridiculous," from her aspirations of working in advertising to her four-year stay at Cable News Network, to her coverage of such large-scale events as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine High School shootings, and in-depth interviews with global figureheads.
Despite these triumphs, Couric recalled her college days spent doling out resumes to top advertising firms.
"What I lacked in intellect, I thought I made up for in an occasional ability to turn a phrase in a clever way," she said.
After trekking from her small hometown of Arlington, Va., to New York City to follow up her resumes with interviews, she was met with only rejection.
"I did what any strong confident young woman would do - I started to cry," joked Couric. "With a little ingenuity, I was able to get my foot and the rest of my body in the door."
Couric credits her success to her perseverance and creativity.
"Just as the coach in Damn Yankees said, 'You gotta have heart,' to do well in this business you got to have chutzpah, Yiddish for moxy, or as they say in Miami, cojones," said Couric.
Her determination landed her a job at ABC, where she gained valuable experience but no airtime. Nine months after accepting the position with ABC, CNN debuted and Couric's colleagues encouraged her to apply for a position.
In what seemed like an absurd move to her ABC boss Carl Bernstein, then Washington Bureau Chief, Couric said she was moving on to what was jokingly referred to as the "Chicken Noodle News."
"At 23, I actually left the guy who uncovered Watergate speechless," said Couric.
Couric said her first big break came at CNN when she was assigned to cover the president's daily White House activities.
"I was a disaster, and shortly after I returned to the bureau, the president of CNN called and informed those on the assignment desk he never wanted to see me on the air again," said Couric. "He was the first in a long line of nay-sayers who miraculously discovered me once I hit the big time."
Couric worked at CNN for four years, beginning in 1980, as assignment editor, political correspondent and producer. Though a reporting position eluded her at CNN, a news director in Miami took note of her work and offered her a job.
Couric remained at Miami's WTVJ from 1984 to 1986 as a reporter but gave the position up for the opportunity to work closer to home at WRC-TV, the NBC television station in Washington D.C.
After begging to anchor segments of the morning show, Couric's boss relented.
"I turned out a really pathetic performance," said Couric. "All I know is I was still earnestly delivering the news long after the station had gone to a commercial break."
During her two-year stint as general-assignment reporter for the station, Couric won an Emmy and an Associated Press Award.
After leaving WRC-TV, Couric joined NBC's Today Show in June of 1990 as the show's first national correspondent, and was eventually promoted to co-anchor in 1991, where she has had the opportunity to conduct interviews with a wide range of people, varying from authors to politicians to celebrities.
"Who else can say they interviewed Howard Stern and Yassar Arafat on the same day?" she said. "Asking questions really isn't enough; my job is getting answers. I think my job is also to express moral outrage."
Couric said her most memorable interview was an impromptu encounter with former President George Bush during a tour of the White House in 1992. Couric said she "proceeded to pummel him with about 19 minutes' worth of questions about the election and Iran contra."
The co-anchor's personal life meshed with her public persona when, in 2001, she was given the George Foster Peabody award for her series on "Confronting Colon Cancer," which included Couric undergoing an on-air colonoscopy.
She became a campaigner for cancer awareness in April of 1997 when her then-41-year-old husband was diagnosed with colon cancer, which had spread to his liver. Nine months later, Couric's husband died.
In 2000, Couric co-established the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance to promote education and research and awareness of the disease. In October of 2001, Couric lost her sister Emily to pancreatic cancer.
Couric will donate the speaking fee she received from UB to cancer research and is sponsoring an event called "Hollywood Hits Broadway" in New York City this November to raise money for the cause.
"I just love how she was totally witty about everything, even about things that people are afraid to be so open about in that forum," said Kevin Smith, a junior music theater major. "To make comments about those things is very courageous."
Couric graduated from the University of Virginia. During the course of her career, she has won six Emmys, an Associated Press Award, a Matrix Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi award.
"I sometimes can't believe that a kid from Arlington, Va., with a pretty 'Leave it to Beaver' childhood has grown up to have conversations with some of the most accomplished and fascinating people in the world," said Couric.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
