SLU to Host Washington Post Opinions Columnist, Race Card Project Founder Michele Norris on April 4

ST. LOUIS – Renowned journalist and opinion columnist Michele Norris will bring her Race Card Project to Saint Louis University this spring and speak to the SLU community about race in America. The project asks participants to talk about identity in six words.

“So proud and yet so tired. Those six words describe my experiences, and feelings about my identity,” said Katrina Moore, Ph.D., associate professor of history and associate dean for diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement for the College of Arts and Sciences. “The Race Card Project asks for one sentence, no more than six words, to describe race, culture, and identity. Journalist Michele Norris has started such a simple idea that has the potential to manifest into many dynamic conversations, and with work transform our society.” 

Norris will give a talk Tuesday, April 4. The event is free and open to the public.

“SLU is excited to be able to take this simple starting point and open up conversations on campus and throughout the community,” Moore said.  

Norris is an opinion columnist for the Washington Post and a former host of NPR’s afternoon magazine show, All Things Considered. She also served as a special correspondent for NPR on race and identity in America.

Before joining NPR, Norris worked at ABC News, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. She has won Emmy, DuPont, and Livingston awards for her work.

She has also received a National Dialogue Award for fostering difficult conversations across political and ideological differences.

The Race Card Project 

Norris began the Race Card Project in 2010, asking people to share their experiences, questions, hopes and other thoughts about identity using only six words. Those words are then the starting point for conversations about race.

The project has archived more than 500,000 stories since its founding and is used regularly by schools, businesses, churches and others to foster dialogue and a deeper understanding of racial dynamics within the framework of a large institution.

The talk is free and open to the public. To ensure a spot at the event, register in advance.

Event Details

• When: 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4.
• Where: The St. Louis Room (Room 300) in Saint Louis University’s Busch Student Center, 20 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo., 63103. 

The event is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Communication and the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement at Saint Louis University.

Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,500 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.