Simmons University to Host ‘Gwen Ifill USPS Stamp Celebration: Honor and Action’ Event on Campus

by | Jan 23, 2020

Boston, Mass. (January 22, 2020) – Simmons University announced today that it will honor the late journalist Gwen Ifill, one of the institution’s most distinguished alumnae, with a “Gwen Ifill USPS Stamp Celebration: Honor and Action” event on February 4, 2020.

During the event, there will be an unveiling of the new 43rd postage stamp in the Black Heritage Series for the Simmons community, which features the trailblazing journalist. Attendees will also have the opportunity to honor Ifill’s legacy by participating in a “Reasons to Write” session, where they can write messages to friends, mentors, alumnae, civic leaders, and members of the community using the new Gwen Ifill Forever Stamps.

The “Gwen Ifill USPS Stamp Celebration: Honor and Action” event takes place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 4th in the Ifill Wing of the Main College Building at Simmons University.

“It’s an honor to celebrate Gwen Ifill’s achievements and legacy with the unveiling of this new Black Heritage series stamp,” said Dr. Brian Norman, Dean of the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities. “Gwen Ifill’s curiosity, integrity and commitment to learning and truth telling exemplifies the very best of Simmons University, and we’re thrilled to bring the community together for this exciting event.”

The celebration event is sponsored by the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities; the Simmons Office of Organizational Culture, Inclusion and Equity; and the United States Postal Service.

Simmons opened the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities in 2018. Ifill graduated from Simmons in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in communications, and went on to establish a historic career in the field of journalism – working for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and NBC, among other outlets. She was the first woman and the first African American to moderate a major television news-analysis show, and was part of the first all-female national nightly news anchor team. At the time of her passing in 2016, she served as co-anchor of the “PBS NewsHour” and moderator of the network’s “Washington Week in Review.”

Since its founding in 1899 as a women’s college, Simmons University has offered a practical liberal arts education focused on professional development and preparing women for leadership roles. Today, Simmons serves thousands of undergraduate and graduate students both on campus and online.

 
About Simmons University
Located in the heart of Boston, Simmons is a respected private university offering more than 50 majors and programs for undergraduate women and graduate programs open to all on campus, in blended formats, or entirely online in nursing and health sciences, liberal arts, business, communications, social work, public health, and library and information science. Founded in 1899, Simmons has established a model of higher education that other colleges and universities are only recently beginning to adapt: the combination of education for leadership in high-demand professional fields with the intellectual foundation of the liberal arts. The result is a Simmons graduate prepared not only to work, but to lead in professional, civic, and personal life — a vision of empowerment that Simmons calls preparation for life’s work. Follow Simmons on Twitter at @SimmonsUniv and @SimmonsNews, and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/school/simmons-university/.
 
Media Contact
Laura Wareck, Director of Media Relations
laura.wareck@simmons.edu | o: 617-521-2611 | c: 978-660-9587