‘Nightline’ co-anchor to speak on inclusion, anti-Asian hate
By Jamie Royce
October 05, 2021
Open gallery
JuJu Chang is now an Emmy Award-winning news anchor and reporter, but her life wasn’t always so glamorous.
“I grew up helping my mom clean hotel rooms at our family business,” Chang told “Good Morning America.”
Immigrating to the United States from Seoul at the age of 4 and becoming the co-anchor of ABC News’ “Nightline” was beyond Chang’s wildest dreams. But she saw trailblazers like news anchor Connie Chung on the CBS Evening News and actor George Takei on “Star Trek,” and she was inspired.
That’s why Chang stresses the importance of representation and sharing the stories of marginalized people, receiving acclaim for features on the recent rise of hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as anchor of the ABC News Live special “Stop the Hate: The Rise in Violence Against Asian Americans” and the “20/20” special “Murder in Atlanta” following the Atlanta mass shooting.
Chang also worked on a series of LGBTQ+ stories, including an award-winning report on violence against transgender women of color. She won a GLAAD award for her story on the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder. Chang’s exclusive interview with transgender soldier Chelsea Manning, after seven years in prison, explored issues of national security leaks, medical treatment for incarcerated transgender people and LGBTQ+ military service.
Chang will speak at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 at a virtual community-led discussion via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public, as well as those on all IU campuses, but registration is required.
The event is part of the IUPUI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Speaker Series.
Jamie Royce is program manager of the IUPUI Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.