Barbara Walters is set to donate personal archive of material from her long journalism career to Sarah Lawrence College.
The alum made the surprise announcement that she would be giving away her collection of recordings, papers and photographs during commencement ceremony for the college on Friday, reports The Journal News. The now-retired journalist also spoke a little, noting she learned a lot, especially courage while attending the school.
She said that came in handy when she interviewed Russia President, and former KGB operative, Vladimir Putin, and asked him if he had ever killed anyone. "Several people said, 'Where did you get the nerve to ask a question like that?' And I said, 'It's easy. I went to a college where I was not afraid to ask questions.' And this is that college."
College president Karen Lawrence thanked Walters for the donation, saying, "We are thrilled by this new gift from our extraordinary alumna so that her legacy can be shared."
Walters retired a couple weeks ago and her special episode of 20/20 did well in the TV Ratings to serve as a good send off, with the episode averaging 9.3 million viewers over its two-hour runtime.
image courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com