On Thursday night, the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium will be packed with a few hundred people who will all be there to see CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

Cooper will speak as part of Truth Be Told, an annual event hosted by the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity with the Syracuse University chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. The $2 tickets sold out on April 16 in 90 minutes. There were about 300 tickets for the event, Abdou Diakite, president of Alpha Phi Alpha, said in an email.

“We chose Anderson Cooper for this year’s Truth Be Told because he embodies diversity through his ideals, which is represented through his work,” he said.

The event aims to bring strong, influential speakers to campus to share their views on a variety of topics, Diakite said. Speakers from previous years include Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson and philosopher Cornel West.

Cooper’s talk will focus on homosexuality in the media, Diakite said. Cooper will also answer questions on global issues. Audience members will hear about Cooper’s childhood as a member of the Vanderbilt family, a wealthy family that made money from the railroad industry, and how he established his own image, he said. The audience will be able to ask questions from their seats, and Cooper will answer questions from Twitter as well, Diakite added.

Service and advocacy are important parts of the fraternity and Diakite said he feels Cooper embodies those components. In addition, Cooper has vast knowledge on social issues that society is facing, Diakite added.

“His coverage on major domestic and global issues is remarkable,” Diakite said. “His credentials help bring out the purpose of our program in which we aim to have intellectual dialogue on pertinent current issues happening in our society.”

Booking Cooper was challenging, Diakite said. It was difficult to find a time when Cooper was available because of his work schedule, he said, adding that it took about five months to book him and required a lot of persistence.

Kavell Brown, a sophomore civil engineering major, said he is curious to hear about Cooper’s viewpoints on different issues.

“He has a diverse outlook on life,” he said. “He’s the type of person who has a good person background and a lot of opinions on issues.”

Published on April 23, 2014 at 10:50 pm