The AU community remembered Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., on Wednesday after he died late Tuesday from a battle with a brain tumor.
Appearing on WAMU's nationally syndicated "The Diane Rehm Show," AU President Neil Kerwin praised the late senator's ability to work across the aisle.
"He spent a great deal of his time in the Senate of the United States finding places where people could agree, and understood the legislative process was indeed an act of compromise," he said.
Kennedy's final appearance at AU was in January 2008, when he endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama for the presidency at a Bender Arena rally. But the so-called liberal lion of the Senate visited AU many times during his long Senate career, which started in 1962 when his brother, John F. Kennedy, was still president.
In April 1991, Kennedy appeared in Bender Arena before close to 2,000 people where he pushed for "social security for children."
"Another generation of Americans should not have to grow up without child care that is adequate, accessible and affordable," he said.
But Kennedy's appearance was not without controversy. Following his speech, he dedicated a wall at Reeves Field that commemorated JFK's 1963 AU commencement address. The wall cost $70,000, a price that a number of people protested, The Eagle reported.
In April 1983, Kennedy spoke about nuclear arms control in a speech sponsored by the Kennedy Political Union.
He called then-President Ronald Reagan's policies "voodoo arms control" at the speech.
When Kennedy unsuccessfully ran against then-President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, he made a speech at the Kay Spiritual Life Center in July, ahead of the Democratic National Convention. In the speech, Kennedy largely attacked the Republican Party instead of Carter, who went on to secure the nomination.
"The Republicans have a peculiar and impossible fantasy," he said. "They want to lower federal spending and [increase] military budgets, smaller deficits and bigger tax cuts, more social progress and fewer social policies."
One of Kennedy's earliest appearances on the AU campus came on May 1, 1964, when he participated in an auction sponsored by the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority to raise money for the JFK presidential library. JFK was assassinated in Dallas about six months prior. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, donated an autographed book of his speeches to the auction.
"It's a sad day for the entire country, not just liberals," Bo Hammond, president of the AU College Democrats, said. "He shouldered the Kennedy legacy on his own."
Jon Baker, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, completed a seven-month internship at Kennedy's office Wednesday. He started in his D.C. office, and he then moved to the Boston office for the summer.
"When I came in this morning, it was very somber," he said. "It was a very moving day; there were just countless calls from people. So many people were calling in tears, just saying how they had appreciated how much the Senator had done for them.
"I was honored to be there," he said.
You can reach this staff writer at eklapper@theeagleonline.com.
