Missouri Western State University’s 23rd annual R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13 in the Looney Complex arena. The featured speaker is Cokie Roberts, renowned journalist and political analyst. Her topic is “Insider’s View of the 2016 Presidential Election.” The event is free and open to the public.

The Convocation Luncheon will follow the event and will begin at noon in the Fulkerson Center. The cost is $40 per person, and advance payment is requested. Roberts will hold a question-and-answer session at the lunch. Reservations for the lunch are required. Please email aotto@missouriwestern.edu or call 816-271-5646 by Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and NPR. From 1996 to 2002, she and Sam Donaldson (who was the Convocation speaker in 2007) co-anchored the weekly interview program “This Week.” In her more than 40 years of broadcasting, she has won countless awards, including three Emmys. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the fifty greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

In addition to her appearances on the airwaves, Roberts and her husband, Steve Roberts, write a weekly column syndicated in newspapers around the country by United Media. They are also contributing editors to USA Weekend Magazine, and together they wrote “From this Day Forward,” an account of their more than forty-year marriage and other marriages in American history. The book immediately went onto The New York Times Bestseller list, following Cokie Roberts’ number one bestseller, “We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters,” an account of women’s roles and relationships throughout American history. Her earlier books, “Founding Mothers” and “Ladies of Liberty” (published in 2004 and 2008 respectively), also became instant bestsellers.

Cokie Roberts holds more than twenty honorary degrees, serves on the boards of several non-profit institutions, and on the President’s Commission on Service and Civic Participation. In 2008, the Library of Congress named her a “Living Legend,” one of the very few Americans to have attained that honor.

Missouri Western inaugurated the R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues program in 1993. The program was started as part of an overall commitment to offer enriching experiences to students while bringing together the college and community. The Convocation is held in honor of R. Dan Boulware, former president of the Board of Regents. Previous Convocation speakers include: Bill Bradley, Douglas Brinkley, James Carville & Mary Matalin, Sam Donaldson, Steve Forbes, Thomas Friedman, David Gergen, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Newt Gingrich, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jerry Linenger, David McCullough, Joseph Nye, T. Boone Pickens, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Daniel Schorr, Patricia Schroeder, J. C. Watts and Bob Woodward.

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.