University plans center for slain reporter Colvin

This is an undated image made available Wednesday Feb. 22, 2012 by the Sunday Times in London of journalist Marie Colvin. / AP Photo/Sunday Times

(AP) STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The journalism school at Stony Brook University in New York will establish a center for international reporting in memory of slain correspondent Marie Colvin.

The Sunday Times of London reporter was killed in a rocket attack in February while reporting on the violent crackdown by the Syrian government. She had worked 30 years in war zones around the world, losing her left eye to shrapnel from an attack by Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

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The university based on Long Island announced plans Wednesday to begin a fundraising campaign for the center. The 56-year-old Colvin grew up in nearby East Norwich, N.Y.

The center hopes to send students on foreign reporting trips to learn their craft. It also plans a lecture series featuring distinguished foreign correspondents.