Molly Ivins, one of the nation’s wittiest political pundits, best-selling author, and syndicated columnist, will be Scripps College’s commencement speaker on Sunday, May 18, 2003, at 3 p.m., on Elm Tree Lawn, on the Scripps campus.
Nationally syndicated in over 200 newspapers, Molly Ivins writes for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is the best-selling author of several books, including Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She (1991) and Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush (2000), co-authored with Lou Dubose. Her articles have appeared in publications such as Atlantic, Esquire, Harper’s, Mother Jones, The Nation, and the Progressive. Ivins’ distinctive Texas voice, passionate love of politics, and irrepressible humor have made her a national treasure and a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. She was named Outstanding Alumna by Columbia University’s School of Journalism in 1976 and earned a William Allen White Citation for exceptional journalism in 2001.
Born in Monterey, California, but reared in Texas, Ivins attended Scripps College for one year in the early 1960s before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from Smith College and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. She then launched her career as a political pundit and journalistic satirist in the tradition of Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken. From her humble beginnings in the Complaint Department of the Houston Chronicle, to a stint as a police reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune, her return to the Lone Star state to cover the Texas Legislature for The Texas Observer, her three-year sojourn as the New York Times Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief (and sole member), to her joyful return to Texas in 1982, Ivins has built a storied career upon her twin passions for writing and politics. Her philosophy, in her own words: “What you need is sustained outrage… there’s far too much unthinking respect given to authority.”
Ivins speaks both French and Spanish and counts as her two greatest honors that the Minneapolis police force named its mascot pig after her and that she was once banned from the campus of Texas A&M.
Ivins’ last appearance on the Scripps campus was in fall 2001 as guest lecturer for the College’s 75th anniversary.