By Juliet White ’23
Investigative reporter Aura Bogado joined the Gustavus Adolphus College community to deliver the 2022 Moe Lecture, titled “Separation Generation: How U.S. Policy Rips Families Apart,” on Tuesday, April 19 in Alumni Hall.
Her impact-driven work as senior reporter and producer for Reveal covers immigration with a focus on migrant children in federal custody. She is the recipient of a Murrow Award, a Hillman Prize, and an IRE medal, and was a finalist for the National Magazine Award and an Emmy nominee. She was previously a staff writer at Grist, where she wrote about the intersection of race and the environment, and also worked for Colorlines and The Nation.
During the lecture, Bogado shared stories of children detained by the Office of Refugee and Resettlement over the last 10 years, how policies and perspectives have changed and remained consistent between presidential administrations, and how racial and ethnic exclusion in the United States impacts the experience of refugees. She also shared some of the challenges faced by non-white women reporters in a field dominated by white men, as well as the value of adhering to ethics that assume the expertise of the lived experiences of marginalized people.
The Moe Visiting Lectureship is endowed by Robert and Karin Moe in honor of their daughter, Kris Burke Moe ’84. Since its inaugural year in 2000, the Moe Lectureship has allowed the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) program to bring top feminist scholars to the Gustavus community. The Moe Lectures represent the interdisciplinary and intersectional nature of GWSS, bringing expertise from various fields including anthropology, cultural studies, biology, literature, philosophy, history, and law.