Winner of Next Philadelphia Liberty Medal Also Wins Nobel Peace Prize
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- News that Malala Yousafzai will share the Nobel Peace Prize created extra excitement today at the National Constitution Center, because Yousafzai is also the winner of this year's Liberty Medal.
She'll be here in Philadelphia to accept the Liberty Medal on October 21st.
In 2012, Yousafzai became a worldwide symbol for the rights of women and education when, while riding a school bus in Pakistan, she was shot by a Taliban gunman for daring to pursue her education.
Constitution Center CEO Jeffrey Rosen says previous winners of the Liberty Medal have also received a Nobel Prize, "but we never expected that Malala, the youngest recipient of the Liberty Medal in history, would receive the prize so soon."
Unexpected, perhaps, but he says an excellent choice.
"She is an extraordinarily deserving recipient, and we couldn't be more excited that she will appear in Philadelphia so soon after she received the prize," Rosen said today.
The Nobel Committee cited Yousafzai's work on behalf of children's right to education, a theme particularly resonant in Philadelphia as budget cuts have left public school students short of resources.
Education activist Helen Gym says both awards should send a message:
"The struggle for young people to access a just education happens in our city as well as overseas."
Yousafzai is also the youngest winner ever of the Nobel Peace Prize. She's 17.