The summer reading assignment for all incoming students is The NEXT BIG STORY: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities by Soledad O'Brien. This Book will be used in your First Year Experience course this fall.  Additionally, the author will be giving a lecture on campus on October 20, 2011. The lecture is sponsored by the Hardman Lecture Series.

As an anchor and special correspondent for CNN's In America unit, Soledad O'Brien is known for her insightful reports and ground-breaking documentaries on many of today's top news stories. O'Brien is the former anchor of CNN's American Morning and a former reporter for NBC News, where she served as host of Weekend Today. Her latest documentaries include Rescued and New Orleans: Rising.  Prior, she reported for CNN's critically acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and Latino in America. She has also covered stories ranging from the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile to the World Trade Center attack to the incarceration of Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

A renaissance woman of the modern era, the multi-ethnic Soledad O'Brien is a working mother and successful journalist in a frenetic and cutthroat business. Also an active humanitarian, O'Brien is a strong proponent of education and mentoring.

Her new memoir, The Next Big Story: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities, is available now. It recounts her most compelling moments as a reporter and how they have shaped her perspective on America.

At MCLA, O'Brien will give an insider's look at what it takes to report for CNN's In America unit. Using her experiences, O'Brien will show all the strategies, hard work, and attention to detail that is needed to report on those untold, in-depth stories that reflect what America is today. O'Brien reports stories about the complex fabric of who we are in this country and brings to you the people, events and issues that are often ignored by mainstream media.