WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Award-winning journalist and writer and West Plains native Jennifer Davidson will give the keynote address at Missouri State University-West Plains’ 2015 commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at the West Plains Civic Center arena.
The title of Davidson’s presentation will be “The New Civil Service: Blending Your Dreams With Giving Back,” which will address the importance of community involvement and giving, especially in rural areas like the Ozarks. Everyone is invited to attend the event.
“Ms. Davidson was a good friend of Missouri State University-West Plains when she worked for NPR and was housed in Kellett Hall. A native of West Plains who has traveled the world, she has a unique perspective on our community,” said Missouri State-West Plains Chancellor Drew Bennett.
Davidson, who grew up on a farm and attended West Plains High School, graduated with honors from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and spent five years in the Persian Gulf region working as a freelance journalist for CNN-International, National Public Radio (NPR) and the largest English daily newspaper in the region, The Gulf News. During her time in the Middle East, Davidson reported on human rights abuses of domestic workers and the humanitarian toll of the second Iraq War. For CNN-International’s program, “Inside the Middle East,” she reported exclusively in the Arabic language to track down members of former Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein’s cabinet who had fled Iraq.
After returning to the United States in 2007, she worked as a reporter, anchor and assignment editor for the NPR station in Springfield, Missouri, KSMU Radio. She spent two years working in a KSMU studio in Kellett Hall on the Missouri State-West Plains campus, where she filed local and national stories on the rural Ozarks. During her time with NPR, her interviews ranged from methamphetamine addicts to CEOs to key players in politics, including then Senator Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, Madeleine Albright and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. She also reported on the democratic process, the Joplin tornado aftermath, the criminal justice system and health care.
While at KSMU, Davidson trained nearly 40 Missouri State University student reporters and oversaw their work for the station.
Over the course of her career with NPR, Davidson’s stories received seven Edward R. Murrow Awards, the “Excellence in Legal Journalism” award from The Missouri Bar Association, and the 2014 Honorable Mention for the “Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Journalism” awarded by Syracuse University.
Davidson recently left the field of daily journalism to pursue a career writing books and a graduate program at Missouri State University, where she studies international relations with an emphasis on diplomacy.
For more information about commencement activities, contact the Missouri State-West Plains academic affairs office, 417-255-7272. For more information about Missouri State-West Plains, visit http://wp.missouristate.edu.