New York Times White House correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs will share insights about his work covering immigration, homeland security, criminal justice and inequality in an event March 17 with Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences. Kanno-Youngs will also talk about his experience as one of the reporters who sat down with President Donald Trump for a two-hour interview in the Oval Office in January. Kanno-Youngs will be on campus as a Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist in A&S.
“Reporting on the White House: View from the Inside,” will be held Tuesday, March 17, at 5 p.m. in Hollis Auditorium, Rm. 132 in Goldwin Smith Hall. The event is free and the public is invited.
“It has been a privilege to report on the White House and show how the Trump administration’s policies are impacting the public during such a crucial time in American history,” Kanno-Youngs said. “I believe curiosity is key to The New York Times’s mission of helping people understand the world. And I hope to bring that curiosity to the classrooms and campus of Cornell University this March. More than anything, I’m thrilled to meet and learn from the faculty and student body.”
“The White House beat is one of the most intriguing, especially lately,” said Loewen. “We’re fortunate to have the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to report on the administration and its policies. We’re grateful to Jan Rock Zubrow and supporters who have made the Distinguished Visiting Journalist Program and events like this possible.”
Kanno-Youngs joined the New York Times in 2019 to cover the Department of Homeland Security, breaking stories on the detention of migrants, immigration enforcement, the Secret Service, protests and the Trump administration’s response to national emergencies. He joined the White House beat in 2021, covering President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, their domestic and foreign policy agendas and candidacies in the 2024 election.
As a White House reporter, he attends daily press briefings and sometimes travels with the president and vice president. Although based in the Washington bureau, Kanno-Youngs has reported from more than two dozen countries.
Before joining The Times, Kanno-Youngs covered criminal justice and the New York Police Department for The Wall Street Journal. He is a graduate of Northeastern University.
Before coming to Cornell to lead the university’s largest and most academically diverse college, Loewen spent 14 years at the University of Toronto in numerous roles, most recently as director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and as the Robert Vipond Distinguished Professor in Democracy in the Department of Political Science.
Loewen’s research centers on the future of democratic societies and the politics of technological change. He has edited four books and published in leading journals of political science and other disciplines.
The College of Arts & Sciences’ Distinguished Visiting Journalist program is funded through an endowment from Jan Rock Zubrow ’77 and Barry Zubrow, as well as additional philanthropic support from Carol MacCorkle ’64, Jay Branegan ’72, Rose Gutfeld Edwards ’78 and the Dr. Guinevere Griest ’44 Fund for Public Engagement in A&S.
Linda B. Glaser Is news and media relations manager for the College of Arts and Sciences
