“I love Charlottesville,” Katie Couric said.
“I love seeing it change and evolve and grow and adapt, and yet maintain its historic beauty and values. And I think anyone who goes to school here hopefully has a good experience. I think you start bleeding orange and blue. … It was such a formative experience for me,” Couric told UVA Today.
She spoke Thursday afternoon at the unveiling of a portrait of her at the University of Virginia, where President Jim Ryan said Couric’s influence on UVA and the world has been mutually formative.
In his office before a small group of people, including members of the 1979 alumna’s family, Ryan said, “To say she’s been a pathbreaker is an understatement.
[KATIE COURIC SPEAKING WITH LIGHT CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND]
I have such wonderful memories of my college experience here. Great professors, great friends, great parties and great football games.
Because I was an RA, I lived in the dorms my first three years, but by far the best place I lived was right here.
Did I mention I lived on the lawn?
Of course, I would have to do the walk of shame to the bathroom and pass everyone headed to class wearing my pink terry cloth bathrobe and clogs, but that small cozy room and especially the fireplace more than made up for it.
You don't need me to tell you that UVA is a very special place.
[FOUR SOUNDS OF CAMERA CLICKING]
“Everywhere you’ve gone and every role you’ve had, you have blazed trails and you have broken barriers,” he said. “And you have been a leader all along the way, even starting here, when you were head resident on the Lawn.”
Couric made television history in 2006 when she became the first female to solo anchor a network evening news broadcast, “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” after co-anchoring NBC’s “Today” show for 15 years. She has won several awards, including an Emmy, a Peabody and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Couric was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2004.
Following remarks, Couric and Ryan grasped either side of a velvet sheath hung over the famous journalist’s portrait, lifting it to reveal Couric standing proudly along the promenade that runs in front of her former Lawn room, 26 East.
Couric said she loved that the photo was taken on the Lawn. “I have so many great memories of being the RA on the Lawn, being with all my friends and sitting in that rocking chair and doing an American studies discussion group on a blanket on the Lawn,” the American studies major said.
Couric then called out, “Where’s Matt?,” referring to University Communications senior photographer Matt Riley, who took her portrait. “Thank you to Matt Riley, who did such a nice job taking my photograph.”
Couric and UVA photographer Matt Riley strike a pose in front of her new portrait. “Katie and I Zoomed for about 20 minutes just to talk about what she wanted,” said Riley, who took the photo. “She pretty much zeroed in on outside of the room as being the most important place, or on the Lawn.” (Photo by Kelly West, University Communications)
Couric arrived at Madison Hall at 3:25 p.m. under an umbrella as spring rain fell. She had come from the Emily Couric Leadership Luncheon, where several local, accomplished female high school students were presented with scholarships. The largest, $50,000, went to Charlottesville High School student Olga Salama, who was born in Congo and moved to the United States with her family in 2021.
“This has been an incredibly special day for me in Charlottesville, because we started with the Emily Couric Leadership Luncheon, where we honored so many outstanding … young women, high school students, with scholarships,” Couric said at the unveiling.
Couric is all smiles at the unveiling. “I think like any successful person, I had a lot of luck,” she said. “But I was also a really hard worker and I happened to pick a profession that was a perfect fit for me. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
The Emily Couric Leadership Forum was founded in 2001 to honor the legacy of the former Virginia state senator, Katie Couric’s older sister, who died of pancreatic cancer that year.
“It’s the 25th year, and over $2 million in scholarships have been awarded to area high school students,” Couric said. “And they are so impressive. I know my sister – who cared deeply about education and cared so much and wanted everyone to have an opportunity to get a good education and pursue their dreams – she would just be so thrilled.”
Couric is flanked by the 2024-25 Katie Couric Blue Ridge Scholars. She donated $1 million in 2022 to help create the scholarship to support extraordinary students, some with limited access to higher education or who have faced adversity. Couric is joined by, left to right, first-year student Genesis Castro, first-year student Carmen Huang, second-year student Inji Cineas and second-year student Jeany Lin. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
