Quinnipiac to Honor Journalist Barbara Walters

Quinnipiac University will present its 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award to recently retired ABC News Correspondent Barbara Walters, co-executive producer of "The View," at the university's annual Fred Friendly First Amendment Award Luncheon on Tuesday.

The luncheon and award ceremony, which will be held at 11:45 a.m. June 10 at the Metropolitan Club, in New York City, will be aired live via webcast, according to the university.

"We are presenting the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbara Walters for a very simple reason. She epitomizes the characteristics we want our students to develop: an endless curiosity, the pursuit of knowledge and truth, regardless of whether it's in an interview with a president, a pop star, or a person suspected of a crime, and a willingness to work harder than the next 10 competitors," Lee Kamlet, dean of the School of Communications, said in a statement. 

"While communications technology is constantly changing, what we hope will never change is the standard of excellence for which Barbara Walters has always stood."  

Since 1994, the School of Communications has presented the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award to honor those who have shown courage and forthrightness in preserving the rights set forth in the First Amendment. The award bears the name of the former CBS News president and champion of freedom of speech. This is the second time the Lifetime Achievement Award is being presented. It was awarded to Floyd Abrams in 2008. 

Previous recipients of the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award are: Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Lesley Stahl, Ted Koppel, Tom Brokaw, Robert MacNeil, Jim Lehrer, Don Hewitt, Peter Jennings, Mike Wallace, Christiane Amanpour, Tom Bettag, Tim Russert, Bob Schieffer, Steve Kroft, Charles Gibson, Morley Safer, Gwen Ifill, David Fanning, Martha Raddatz and Scott Pelley.