Jay Harris
Jay Harris
His charming personality lights up your television screen, his tidy and poised presence demands the attention of a room, and his witty delivery is the perfect compliment to fantastic highlights put together for the millions of viewers who tune in to ESPN. During his tenure at the network, Jay Harris has hosted a variety of shows and special broadcasts. His main assignment is anchoring Sportscenter.
His charming personality lights up your television screen, his tidy and poised presence demands the attention of a room, and his witty delivery is the perfect compliment to fantastic highlights put together for the millions of viewers who tune in to ESPN. During his tenure at the network, Jay Harris has hosted a variety of shows and special broadcasts. His main assignment is anchoring Sportscenter.
Jay’s knowledge and longevity in the industry has earned him several honors including: a Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, a Robert L. Vann Award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, and an EXCEL Award from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals. He’s also been part of 3 Emmy Award-winning Sportscenter shows.
Harris is a 1983 graduate of Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC. A 1987 graduate of Old Dominion University with a degree in Speech Communication, he received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003, and has served twice as ODU’s keynote commencement speaker.
PROGRAMS
The Top Ten Things I Know About Leadership
Keynote | Virtual
In his more than 30 years as a journalist, Jay Harris has learned what it takes to be a leader, and a leader in his field.
The word “leadership” may be simple to define, but Jay had learned true leadership has no easy definition. And in a play off the fantastic Top Ten franchise that ESPN has cultivated, Jay presents in his new program: The Top Ten Things I Know About Leadership.
This dynamic program is straightforward, thought-provoking, and designed to equip student leaders to be successful now and into the future. Jay draws on lived experiences, influential moments in his journey, and the greatest wisdom of others to help clarify what can often be a complex formula for transformational leadership.
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” -John Maxwell
Audience members will…
Discover how leadership is actualized through purposeful choices
Consider how their role as a leader influences the trajectory of their organizations now and into the future
Simplify their conceptualization of leadership in order to focus on the core of responsibility and impact
Ideal Audiences
- Distinguished Speaker Series
- New Student Orientation
- First Year Experience
- Athletics
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Community Colleges
Audience members will…
Learn important undergraduate and career lessons from a highly-respected professional journalist
Explore the concepts of planning and resiliency as it relates to goal attainment
Consider how the path to their career goal will likely be nonlinear
Begin to develop a mindset of “rerouting” as it relates to the path from where they are to where they wish to be
Ideal Audiences
- Distinguished Speaker Series
- New Student Orientation
- First Year Experience
- Athletics
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Community Colleges
Reroute: An Indirect Path to Your Greatest Dreams
Keynote | Virtual
Jay Harris is living his childhood dream; anchoring one of the most popular television programs in history and providing color and context to the greatest stories and highlights of the 21st century is how he spends most mornings. His professional journey has brought him into the homes of millions as the host of SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, and others. He is at the very pinnacle of his field.
But the path to get here hasn’t always been easy.
In his signature program, Reroute, Jay shares with you his personal and professional journey from a student leader and fraternity man at Old Dominion University to Emmy Award-winning journalist at ESPN. Along the way, he discovered every great dream is achieved through a series of starts, stops, steps, and missteps. The message of this program will resonate with all students but is particularly important for new students who are beginning to explore their educational and career path.
Because of Fraternity
Keynote | Virtual
We have all heard the cliché that “fraternity changed my life,” but for Jay Harris, it really did.
In his signature program, Because of Fraternity, he recounts how his membership in a fraternal organization was essential to his success. From the sorority scholarship he got when he became an undergrad to his chapter brother giving him his first job in journalism, Jay knows fraternity has made a difference in his journey. In this thoughtful program, highlighted by Jay’s humor and wit, he not only recounts how his life has been bettered by fraternity but also encourages and challenges current members to see how their experiences are influenced and impacted by all those who wear letters.
Because of Fraternity also culminates with a challenge for current members to recognize their responsibility to leave their chapters and organizations safe for future generations.
Ideal Audiences
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Greek Week Programming
Audience members will…
Learn about the role of fraternal organizations on life and career of one of America’s top journalists
Reflect on how membership comes with privileges and opportunities
Explore the role of being your “brother’s keeper” and how it is actualized in daily choices
Audience members will…
- Explore the historical meaning of “woke” along with its current interpretations
- Engage in reflection about the value of being woke and it’s alternative
- Develop a greater understanding of how to be woke in our everyday lives
Ideal Audiences
- Distinguished Speaker Series
- New Student Orientation
- First Year Experience
- Athletics
- Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Community Colleges
Stay Woke (Because The Alternative Is Destroying Us)
Keynote | Virtual
When Jay Harris was growing up, the word woke was often used in his home. To “stay woke” he learned meant a few things:
Stay aware.
Stay alert.
Be careful.
But today this word means so much more.
America always has had a love/hate relationship with words, especially four letter words. But there perhaps has never been a four letter word that has created so much simultaneous love and hate, curiosity and confusion, frustration and connectivity.
As a journalist, Jay does words for a living. He tells stories that are designed for information and entertainment. He is masterful at weaving stories that educate, inform, and entertain. And in telling the story and history of “Woke”, he does all of those, with the goal of beginning a conversation that is much needed these days.
A conversation about being woke.
