Fordham University honored journalists Ali Velshi and Connie Chung on Nov. 10 at its annual Sperber Prize ceremony, recognizing their enduring impact and their outspoken defense of truth and democracy.
Velshi, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News and anchor for MSNBC, received the 2025 Sperber Prize for his book Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy (St. Martin’s Press, 2024). The award, presented annually by Fordham’s Department of Communication and Media Studies, was established 25 years ago to recognize outstanding biographies and memoirs about journalism and media.
In a special presentation, Chung, the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian person to anchor a major American network broadcast, received a Distinguished Career Award for her book Connie: A Memoir (Grand Central, 2024).
Standing Up for Democracy
Velshi’s Small Acts of Courage blends family history with a reflection on democratic values, a focus he carried into his remarks as he explored what it means to be an American citizen today. Born in Kenya, his family lived in India, South Africa, and Canada before he moved to the United States in 2001. He became a citizen in 2015, but it wasn’t until May 2020 that he truly began to consider what that meant.
While covering protests in Minneapolis over the killing of George Floyd, he was shot in the shin with a rubber bullet. It made him realize citizenship is not a “spectator sport,” even for journalists.
“In that instant, I was no longer an observer,” he said. “The rubber bullet told me, ‘Now you’re in this fight. You’re not just covering it.’”
Velshi said that citizenship “is not just a status you hold. It’s a responsibility that you bear. And journalism, rather than being the act of documenting and bearing witness, is actually the act of standing up for democracy, of bearing truth.”
A Pioneer in Broadcasting
Chung recounted the challenges of dealing with rampant racism and sexism during her long career. One coping technique was perfecting a “potty mouth.”
“Each time I dropped an F-bomb, they were so shocked that it came from this little lotus blossom,” she said, laughing. “It was a strange approach, and I don’t recommend it to anyone, but I just had to have some kind of armor.”
Chung had the crowd laughing with her personal reflections, but her take on the current state of the media was more serious. She was withering in her assessment of media organizations that bow to censorship demands.
“It is time for us in news not to kowtow to those who are trying to muzzle us,” she said.
The evening’s award was meaningful to her, she said, because she had to work hard at the craft of memoir. When she submitted her first draft, her editor chided her for including only facts.
“She said, ‘It’s a memoir. You have to tell how you feel.’ If I had known that, I never would’ve started this thing,” Chung said. “I decided to find a way to tell how I feel, and I think I found a way.”
Inquiry and Responsibility
In welcoming remarks presented via video, Fordham President Tania Tetlow said that at their best, education and journalism challenge people to think critically, act ethically, and apply learning in the service of others. Like Fordham itself, she said, Velshi and Chung’s work “begins in inquiry and ends in responsibility.”
“Through their words and witness, they remind us that integrity still matters and that every act of honest storytelling helps keep democracy alive,” she said.
25 Years of Honoring Distinguished Voices
Established in 1999, the Sperber Prize carries a $1,000 award and honors the late Ann M. Sperber, author of Murrow: His Life and Times, published by Fordham University Press.
Over the years, many well-known authors have received the award in person at Fordham, exposing students to some of journalism’s most prominent voices. Past recipients include Robert Caro (Working), Charles M. Blow (Fire Shut Up in My Bones), Douglas Brinkley (Cronkite), and Seymour M. Hersh (Reporter).
The Sperber Prize anniversary celebration was sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Department of Communication and Media Studies.
