Byron Pitts inspires at 2014 Associates Evening

Journalist shares moving message about the importance of giving back.

As guest speaker at the 46th Annual Associates Evening Oct. 24, Emmy award-winning journalist Byron Pitts delivered a strong and personally candid message about the importance of giving back. He shared one example after another of the life-changing, transformative power of people "stepping out" for those who simply need a helping hand.

Pitts was a college freshman at Ohio Wesleyan University, failing his freshman English class. He was at the point of withdrawing from the university when an English professor - a first-year faculty member - offered to help him. 

"She stepped out on nothing and saved my life," said Pitts. "She had no reason to talk to me, but she did."

His class grade improved. He stayed at Ohio Wesleyan, graduating in 1982 with a degree in journalism and speech communication. He set his sights on becoming a journalist, with a goal of joining the staff of "60 Minutes." He rose through the ranks of broadcast news, building from small local markets to larger ones, then eventually becoming chief national correspondent for "The CBS Evening News" and a contributor to "60 Minutes." Currently, he works as anchor and chief national correspondent at ABC.

Pitts has repaid that English professor's favor many times over in his adult life. He shared the story of meeting an 11-year-old girl, Pilar, during a visit to a charter school in Baltimore, his hometown. After speaking to a group of students, including Pilar, she approached him and asked: "Mr. Pitts, where do you go, where do you hide, when the world hurts too much?"

It was learned that Pilar's mother had abandoned her. Pilar was placed in foster care and later sexually abused by an older boy in the foster home. Working with authorities, Pitts was able to help Pilar get out of that situation. Now, she is a high school junior who has never earned less than an A- in her classes. 

Where does she go now when she wants to retreat from the world, Pitts has asked her? "Her mind, her imagination, 'where no one can touch me'," he said she told him.

What Pilar deserves "is an opportunity," Pitts said to Associates guests. "And when that person in your space asks you that question, tell them 'Come to me.'"

- Leslie Taylor