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The series is named the "Rose B. Nader Circle: For the Agitation of the Caring Mind" after the mother of Ralph Nader, the political activist and four time presidential candidate who grew up in Winsted and Shafeek Nader, who founded the college.
Mr. Donahue did just that Oct. 21, challenging a capacity crowd in the Founders Hall Auditorium in a speech titled "Media Taboos and Free Speech."
During an introduction, Claire Nader said Mr. Donahue changed television history by focusing on controversial issues like abortion and civil rights.
"Ralph Nader calls Phil the master of the First Amendment," Ms. Nader said.
For his part, Mr. Donahue said he remembered the first time he interviewed Mr. Nader when he was starting out as a television reporter in Dayton, Ohio, in the mid-1960s.
Mr. Nader had just written his book "Unsafe at Any Speed."
Mr. Donahue, a self-described Irish Catholic from the Eisenhower era and uncomfortable with political protest, was impressed. Mr. Nader would later go on to be one of the most frequent guests on "The Phil Donahue Show."
"I thought he was right on all the issues," Mr. Donahue said, adding that Rose Nader was known for challenging political figures and encouraging activism at the local, state, and national levels.
Mr. Donahue's remarks turned serious, however, as the talk show host took the mainstream media to task for what he said was its failure to challenge the Bush administration on the Iraq war.
Mr. Donahue said several executives interfered with the production of programs and contributed to a climate among newscasters that equated political dissent with treason.
He related his own experience producing the documentary "Body of War," about 24-year-old Army enlistee Tomas Young who was paralyzed soon after arriving in Iraq in March 2004.
Mr. Donahue said making the movie had convinced him that the mainstream media had blurred the line between news and entertainment at the expense of in-depth, investigative journalism. It also had affected what it meant to be an active, engaged American citizen, Donahue said.
"We don't see it, we don't see the sacrifice."
Mr. Donahue said the future of journalism would likely fall outside traditional media outlets like newspapers and cable news channels to Web and digital based journalists.
"My message for those coming up is this is one of the most exciting and scariest times in our nation's history," he said.
The lecture series continued this week with Christopher Pyle, who discussed America's use of torture since 9/11, and Patricia Klindienst will discuss food and cultural heritage on Nov. 4.
