News Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture To Feature Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist

Mike McIntire ’85 will deliver the 2024 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture on Thursday, February 22, at 4 p.m. in Anderson Theatre on the Hartwick College campus. His presentation, “Investigative Journalism and Democracy,” is free and open to the public.

McIntire will cover the importance of investigative journalism in maintaining a strong democracy and draw from his investigations on issues such as the hidden financial incentives behind police traffic stops, covert Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, and obtaining and reporting on Donald Trump’s tax returns during the 2020 presidential campaign.

McIntire is a New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for the reporting that went into his book, Champions Way: Football, Florida and the Lost Soul of College Sports, which explores corruption in college sports. His forthcoming book, Lethal Freedoms: The Rise of Gun Culture and the Fracturing of America, examines the politics, ideology and business of firearms.

McIntire graduated from Hartwick in 1985 with a degree in political science. Two of his children also graduated from Hartwick with degrees in political science: Meg McIntire ’13 and Ryan McIntire ’21.

After graduating from Hartwick, McIntire worked as a reporter and editor for several newspapers in Connecticut. While working for The Hartford Courant, he shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting and was a Pulitzer finalist for investigative reporting on medical malpractice. McIntire was awarded the Scripps Howard Foundation National Public Service Award for his work exposing corruption in Connecticut.

Since joining The New York Times in 2003, McIntire has worked for the national investigations unit and the metro desk, producing stories on a wide range of subjects, including presidential politics, terrorism, Wall Street bailouts, and the NRA. He has taught journalism at New York University since 2004 and was a 2019 Ferris Visiting Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.

The lecture honors Leslie Rude, who was a Hartwick College faculty member and administrator. Following his death in 1998, his widow, Marion Rude, and Professor Emeritus Norma Hutman established the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture to reflect his passionate interests in political science and public speaking, and his commitment to public life. The annual lecture aims to bring a prominent speaker with political expertise to the Hartwick campus to share ideas with students, faculty and community members about issues pertinent to the current political climate.

For additional information on the Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture, contact Laurel Elder, professor of political science, at [email protected].