“Conversations with Lauren Chooljian” gave students and faculty the chance to connect with the 2024 commencement speaker, award winning journalist Lauren Chooljian. The event was held in the Event Space on Feb. 27 and was sponsored by the Grappone Humanities Institute and the English and Communication Department. Prof. Bouchard (English) introduced Chooljian, describing her “intellectual curiosity” and deep love for the humanities.
Chooljian’s story radiated her deep curiosity and deep love for the humanities. The thread running throughout her lecture was the simple statement: “It’s not about me.” She repeated this phrase a few times while speaking, and approaches everything from her journalism career to her commencement speech for the class of 2024 with this attitude.
Chooljian, a New Hampshire native, arrived at Saint Anselm with no idea what she wanted to major in or what she wanted to do with her life. She cites her experience working in the 2008 presidential debates on campus as a formative moment, and she went on to declare a major in history and graduate in 2010. She described Saint Anselm as a place that she felt like she could “try stuff out and see what fit.”
She was eventually drawn to pursue journalism because it let her be curious about many different topics every single day. Her history degree had prepared her well to understand contemporary political news. When she returned to New Hampshire after several years covering politics for WBEZ in Chicago, she said that her time away was necessary to help her see her home state in a fresh light.
Chooljian started working at New Hampshire Public Radio in 2017. Before the 2020 presidential elections she reported on New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status. Her coverage of this was somewhat controversial, but Chooljian was unapologetic. When speaking to her Saint Anselm audience, she said, “If we don’t question these big powerful institutions, then what is the point of my job?”
Chooljian said that she is driven by the potential of an overarching narrative, “something bigger” when seeking out a story. She said that it’s also important to her to highlight stories that will interest people from outside New Hampshire. A COVID-19 outbreak at the largest addiction treatment facility in New Hampshire met both of these criteria, so she started asking questions until she uncovered the underlying issue.
In March 2022 NHPR published Chooljian’s investigation of sexual misconduct allegations at that treatment facility. Multiple people had shared with Chooljian their experiences of abuse and harassment by the CEO. After the publication exposed the rampant sexual misconduct and abuse of power, the alleged abuser brought a lawsuit against Chooljian. She told “Conversations” attendees about the vandalization of her house and her parents’ house. A brick was thrown through her window and the words “Just the beginning” were spray painted on her wall.
Despite the backlash, it never occurred to Chooljian to stop reporting. She said she had a responsibility to use the resources at her disposal to fight the lawsuit and continue to challenge a dangerous power imbalance. She found that sexual misconduct in addiction treatment facilities was a prevalent problem that spread far beyond New Hampshire.
She described the “balancing act” of not centering herself in the reporting of this story. She said that while she worked on processing the trauma of being personally attacked for her investigation, she also tried to avoid letting the legal conflict focus on her. The priority, to Chooljian, was the survivors of sexual abuse and on the prevalent abuse in treatment facilities. She said of her reporting, simply, “It needed to be done,” and she did it. The 13th Step podcast was first released in 2023, and Chooljian continues her work on it today.
First and foremost a humanities student, Chooljian says, “it’s a gift to listen to people’s stories and to share them” with others. Her passion for justice is rooted in Anselmian values, and she sees her journalistic career as a daily opportunity for curiosity. In May she is slated to bring both of those qualities, plus years of professional experience, to delivering a commencement address to the class of 2024.
