USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan to speak at Marquette

Axthelm Lecture part of Marquette’s Centennial of Women Celebration

Event Information:
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
Time: 4 p.m.
Place: Weasler Auditorium, 1506 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Christine Brennan, USA Today columnist, television sports analyst and best-selling author, will speak on the topic of women in sports journalism for this year’s Axthelm Lecture in the Marquette University J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication. The event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 4 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium, 1506 W. Wisconsin Ave. It is free and open to the public.

Brennan is an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN and has covered 13 consecutive Olympic Games, starting with the 1984 Los Angeles Games. In 1985, she became the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins as a staff writer for the Washington Post. In 2001 and again in 2003, the Associated Press Sports Editors named her one of the nation’s top 10 sports columnists in the category of the nation’s largest newspapers. She is the author of seven books, including her 1996 book Inside Edge, which was named one of the top 100 sports books of all time by Sports Illustrated. 

Brennan, whose column in USA Today makes her the most widely read female sports columnist in the nation, comes to campus as part of Marquette’s Centennial Celebration of Women. In 1909, Marquette became the first Catholic university in the world to offer coeducation as part of its regular undergraduate program. Today, women make up more than 50 percent of the student body.

The Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Memorial Program was established to acknowledge and recognize the life of Pete Axthelm, a former writer at the New York Herald Tribune, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek, and his sister Bonnie, a former Media Networks and 3M executive. Each year since 1994, the Axthelm Memorial Program has awarded one scholarship to an outstanding Marquette journalism student who has an interest in sports journalism.  Since 1996, a notable journalist or executive has given the Axthelm lecture.  Past speakers include former Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, former Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin and ESPN Executive Senior Vice President of Studio and Event Production Norby Williamson.

Media wishing to speak to Brennan should contact Tim Cigelske in the Office of Marketing and Communication at (414) 288-4864.