Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Jonathan Capehart, Co-Anchor  of MS NOW's The Weekend, to Speak at Rutgers-Newark Commencement

Jonathan Capehart, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-anchor of MS NOW’s The Weekend, will be the keynote speaker at Rutgers University-Newark’s commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 21 at the Prudential Center in Newark. 

Capehart, a long-time MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) co-anchor, PBS NewsHour political analyst and author, will also receive an honorary degree of humane letters. Capehart has hosted several MS NOW specials including  “A Promised Land: A Conversation with Barack Obama,” which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis in 2021, and “Pride of the White House,” which earned him a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism – Long Form in 2022.

Capehart grew up in Newark, NJ, where he attended St. Rose of Lima and St. Benedict’s Preparatory School.

"I was born in Newark. I graduated from St. Benedict's. Receiving an honorary degree from Rutgers University-Newark is like being called home. I cannot wait to speak to this year's graduates and to celebrate their achievements,’’ said Capehart.

He previously served as deputy editorial page editor of the New York Daily News from 2002 to 2004 and  served on its editorial board from 1993 to 2000. In 1999, his editorial campaign to save the Apollo Theater earned him and the board the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.

Capehart, who left the Daily News in July 2000 to become the national affairs columnist at Bloomberg News, took leave from this position in February 2001 to serve as a policy adviser to Michael Bloomberg in his first successful campaign for New York City Mayor. Capehart also was previously an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post.

His New York Times best-selling memoir, Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home, was published by Grand Central Publishing in 2025.