Colorado State Hosts Reception and Book Signing with Commencement Speakers May 15

Colorado State will host a reception and book signing with former Middle East hostages Tom Sutherland and Terry Anderson prior to their commencement address to the university May 15.

The community is invited to attend the special reception from 9-11 a.m. at D.C. Bottoms in the Durrell Center on campus. The event, sponsored by the University Bookstore and the Commencement Committee, will provide a more intimate setting to talk with Sutherland and Anderson before their speech at the university-wide commencement ceremony at 3 p.m. in Moby Arena.

Sutherland, an emeritus professor at Colorado State, returned from six years of captivity to a hero’s welcome in 1991. Anderson, former AP Bureau Chief and best-selling author, was held captive for seven years.

Sutherland is a well-known figure in Colorado, first joining Colorado State University in the department of animal sciences in 1958. He has discussed his hostage experience on national television, including appearances on Nightline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The McNeil-Lehrer Report and on BBC and BBC Scotland. NBC News featured Sutherland’s return to Lebanon, including a visit to the headquarters of Hizbollah, his alleged captors. He was the first hostage to undertake such a return visit. Sutherland is a frequent speaker about his experience, the insights gained from it, about the Middle East and America’s role in the world abroad, the nature of terrorism in today’s world and particularly its threat to the United States, his worldwide efforts for peace, and his faith in America’s future.

Anderson, author of "Den of Lions," is an associate professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He writes a weekly column syndicated by the King Feature Syndicate and is a nationally known speaker on political and social affairs, the Middle East, journalism and government reform. "Den of Lions," which Anderson wrote with his wife, Madeleine Bassil, was a national best seller and told the story of Anderson’s seven years in captivity.