Press Releases
WCNY to host Sandra Day O’Connor Virtual event with Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud
by
August 23, 2021
WCNY, Central New York’s community-owned flagship public broadcaster, in partnership with Upstate Oasis, presents the PBS American Experience documentary, “Sandra Day O’Connor: The First,” live virtual screening and discussion event, Thursday, Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. on Zoom, sponsored by Geddes Federal.
Sandra Day O’Connor’s appointment to the Supreme Court as the first woman nominated and confirmed justice helped shape the decisions made by the Court affecting civil rights, environmental protection, personal privacy, voting rights, protection against discrimination, and more!
Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud will be a featured speaker presenting information about O’Connor, who he holds as his closest mentor, and about his time clerking for her shortly after she became the first woman named to the Supreme Court bench. Syverud will then conduct a question and answer session that will be moderated by retired TV News Anchor, Laura Hand
Registration is required for the event but is free to any wishing to attend.
About Sandra Day O’Connor
When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor as the Supreme Court’s first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine’s cover proclaimed “Justice At Last,” and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O’Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O’Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues, including race, gender, and reproductive rights — and she was the tiebreaker on Bush v. Gore. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era.
About WCNY
WCNY was founded in 1965 as The Educational Television Council of Central New York. Today, it is a community-owned media company that produces content across multiple platforms, including television and radio programs, dynamic web and targeted email content, the WCNY CONNECT magazine, and social media. Through online streaming technology, WCNY has a global broadcast audience of viewers and listeners throughout the United States and 17 countries. WCNY operates five digital, pledge-free broadcast channels and three radio stations. Classic FM is one of a few radio stations in the world dedicated to locally programmed classical music.
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