Walter Cronkite anchoring CBS Evening News.

Walter Cronkite in the 1970s

A clipping from the Public Opinion, providing the details about Walter Cronkite's visit to Wilson College.

Visited Wilson in May 1970 to give the Commencement Speech

Long known as “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite was one of the most influential news reporters of the 19th century. He covered many of the memorable events in twentieth-century American history, while captivating and reassuring the public.

Cronkite’s evening news segment on CBS was what launched him to near-stardom in the United States in 1963. While on the network, he covered America’s space efforts, major political campaigns, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Watergate, the resignation of President Nixon, and the peace negotiations between Egypt and Israel. 

Over his years in journalism, he was the winner of multiple awards, including the George Foster Peabody Television News Award, the William Allen White Award for Journalistic Merit, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Texas, the Journalism Award from the University of Missouri, the Journalism Achievement Awards from the University of Southern California School of Journalism, several Emmys, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981. 

He possesses honorary degrees from Rollins College, Bucknell University, Syracuse University, Ohio State University, and Wilson College. 

Although no pictures can be found of Cronkite’s Commencement Speech at Wilson in 1970, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and doubtless students and faculty enjoyed hearing from the most “convincing and authoritative figure in TV news,” as Times dubbed him in 1966. 

Sources:
Billboard Volume 51 No. 21 April 17, 1970

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Cronkite

Image sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Cronkite

https://www.newsweek.com/voice-god-tv-walter-cronkites-1960s-63729