NASHVILLE, TN — April Ryan, a renowned journalist, White House correspondent and nationally syndicated radio host, will deliver the commencement address when Tennessee State University holds its fall graduation ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The commencement will take place in the Howard C. Gentry Complex on the main campus, beginning at 9 a.m. Nearly 450 undergraduate and graduate students will receive degrees in various disciplines.
Ryan, described as “having a unique vantage point as the only black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House” since the Clinton administration, is also known for her “Fabric of America” news blog syndicated through close to 300 radio affiliates.
She is the Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks, and can be seen almost daily on CNN as a political analyst.
As a White House correspondent, Ryan has covered four presidential administrations. Following the election of President Donald Trump, Ryan gained notoriety after notable exchanges with him and his then-press secretary, Sean Spicer.
She has been featured in Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Elle magazines, The New York Times, The Washington Post – to name a few. Ryan is the 2017 National Association of Black Journalist’s Journalist of the Year, and a Terker Fellow with the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.
A Baltimore native, Ryan has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association, and one of only three African Americans in the Association’s over 100-year history to serve on its board. She is also an esteemed member of the National Press Club.
Ryan is the author of the award-winning book, “The Presidency in Black and White,” and “At Mama’s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White,” where she looks at race relations through the lessons and wisdom that mothers have given their children.
