JFK+50: Volume 5, No. 1938
JFK RECEIVES HONORARY DEGREE FROM GWU,Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, May 3, 1961,
President John F. Kennedy was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from George Washington University*.
In accepting the honorary degree, President Kennedy noted that his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, graduated with a BA from the university in 1957.
The President quipped...
"My wife beat me to this honor by about eight or nine years. It took her two years to get this degree and it took me two minutes, but in any case we are both grateful.
This University bears the name of George Washington, which showed his understanding in his day of the necessity of a free society to produce educated men and women.
I believe....people do want to be free (and) that they desire to develop...their own potentials (and) democracy permits them to do so."
*George Washington University was established in 1821 as Columbian College in the District of Columbia & changed its name to honor the First U.S. President in 1904. Its' 1st commencement was held in 1824 & attended by President James Monroe & the Marquis de Lafayette.
Today GWU is ranked as one of the top politically active schools in the nation.
SOURCE
"Remarks on receiving honorary degree at George Washington University, 3 May 1961," www.jfklibrary.org/
The George Washington University
Photo by Ingfbruno
April 20, 2013
The George Washington University
Photo by John White (2004)
