Art Holliday, local broadcast anchor/reporter, will be the keynote speaker at St. Charles Community College's 31st annual commencement exercises Saturday, May 18. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium of the College Center on the SCC campus.
“We are honored to have Mr. Art Holliday, St. Charles County native and esteemed broadcaster and filmmaker, delivering the keynote address for our 2019 commencement exercises,” said Barbara Kavalier, Ph.D., SCC president. “Mr. Holliday's accomplishments in the field of journalism and his example of setting and reaching goals throughout his career will be a wonderful inspiration for our graduates and their guests.”
Photo provided by Art Holliday
Holliday's broadcasting career spans four decades in news and sports, including 38 years at KSDK. He now works the 10 a.m.-noon weekday shift at KTRS and is a part-time reporter for KSDK.
He came to 5 On Your Side in 1979 and worked as a sportscaster until 1989 when he began a 22-year stint co-anchoring with Jennifer Blome on Today in St. Louis. Besides anchoring, Holliday served as managing editor and twice was executive producer of the morning newscast. Before joining 5 On Your Side, he worked in the sports department of KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City for two-plus years.
Holliday's broadcasting work has been recognized with numerous awards, including three sportscasting Emmys in 1985, 1988 and 1989. In 2001, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists. In 2002, the National Alliance on Mental Health presented Holliday its annual Media Award, and the following year the University of Missouri-Columbia selected him for its prestigious Faculty-Alumni Award. In 2009, he was inducted into the St. Louis Media Foundation Television Hall of Fame. In 2018, the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists presented Holliday a “Living Legend” award.
He has a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and his interests include tennis, photography and documentary filmmaking. His first documentary "Before They Fall Off The Cliff" was accepted to multiple film festivals and is being used by the Crisis Intervention Team of St. Louis County to train police officers on how to de-escalate encounters with citizens who have a mental illness. He's currently working on "Johnnie Be Good," a music documentary about Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pianist Johnnie Johnson. He is married and has an adult daughter.
St. Charles Community College is a public, comprehensive two-year community college with associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, business, sciences and career-technical fields. SCC provides workforce training and community-based personal and professional development as well as cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu.