UB Offers 1,500 Free Tickets for Distinguished Speakers Series Lecture with Soledad O'Brien

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo is offering free tickets to local community and religious organizations and churches and to Western New York high schools to attend UB's 36th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration event featuring Soledad O'Brien, CNN anchor, special correspondent and author.

The lecture, sponsored by UB's Minority Faculty and Staff Association and Citizens Bank, is part of the 25th Annual UB Distinguished Speakers Series and will take place on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. in Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo. Up to 20 complimentary tickets per group are available while supplies last. Ticket requests will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Requests for tickets for high schools should be made by the school's principal or one faculty/staff member; for community and religious organizations and churches, one representative should act as the sole liaison. To register your group's ticket request, and to learn more about the series and Soledad O'Brien, visit http://www.specialevents.buffalo.edu/. Requests must be received by Jan. 26.

UB, with the support of Citizens Bank and Hodgson Russ LLP, an affiliate sponsor of the Distinguished Speakers Series, has dedicated approximately 1,500 complimentary seats for the community as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series' educational outreach program.

As part of its celebration of the 25th anniversary of the series, UB opted to deliver programming back into the community that it serves and selected the King Commemoration event. This program comes 45 years after King spoke in Kleinhans in 1967 as a guest of UB.

O'Brien is the anchor for CNN morning show "Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien" and a special correspondent for CNN/U.S. Since joining the network in 2003, O'Brien has reported breaking news from around the globe and has produced award-winning, record-breaking and critically acclaimed documentaries on the most important stories facing the world today.

Her documentaries include "Words That Changed a Nation," a never-before-seen look at King's private writings and notes, and "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination," as well as "Don't Fail Me: Education in America," a look at the crisis in public education; "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door," a report on religious freedom protections; "Rescued," a look at Haiti's remarkable children before, during and after the devastating earthquake; and the "Black in America" and "Latino in America" series.

She also covers political news as part of CNN's "Best Political Team on Television." In 2010, she wrote a critically acclaimed memoir "The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities," which chronicles her biggest reporting moments and how her upbringing and background have influenced these experiences.