Congressman Kennedy Tells Class of 2014 'Fortunes of Country May Depend' on Their Efforts

by Eric Williamson

U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III shows a moment of silent appreciation after receiving the UVA Law diploma of late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy '59 on behalf of the Kennedy family.

In a call to public service, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III told the University of Virginia School of Law Class of 2014 in his commencement address on May 18 that the future of the nation may depend on their contributions as lawyers.

The first-term congressman from Massachusetts said a still-recovering economy, political gridlock and threats to U.S. foreign policy are among the challenges that must be addressed in order to restore faith in the American system of governance.

“Now it would be easy to think that this is not your problem,” Kennedy said. “That it’s those clowns in government that are giving the system a bad name. But folks, this is more than your problem; this is your purpose.”

Kennedy quoted Thomas Jefferson, founder of the University of Virginia, who wrote “the fortunes of our country may depend” on the University’s graduates.
“Class of 2014, this is the responsibility and opportunity lying at your feet,” the congressman said.

In total, the Law School conferred 405 degrees to the class: 347 J.D.s, 55 LL.M.s and three S.J.D.s.

Kennedy, a former assistant district attorney who spent two years in the Peace Corps and received his law degree from Harvard University, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2012. The Democrat serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as well as the House Committee on Science and Technology.

The congressman is the son of former six-term congressman Joseph Kennedy II and the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy ’51, for whom the Law School’s Kennedy Fellowships are named. In 2006, he co-chaired the re-election campaign of his great-uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ’59.

Kennedy, in encouraging the class onward to greater public service, also acknowledged its recent accomplishments.

“You’ve exonerated a man wrongly accused,” he said. “You sent an immigration reform bill to the desk of this governor. You used the law to champion issues from autism, to housing, to wounded warriors and human rights.”

Dean Paul G. Mahoney also extolled the service of the class, which collectively put in a record 17,995 hours of pro bono work to assist clients who could not otherwise afford legal representation. A record 105 students met the school’s Pro Bono Challenge of performing 75 or more volunteer hours while in law school.

“You welcomed the intellectual challenges that awaited you and met them energetically,” Mahoney told the class. “But you did not focus just on yourselves. You raised money and donated your time to countless important causes.”

Brian Park, the outgoing president of the Student Bar Association and the president of the graduating class, announced the class gift: 297 graduates—more than 85 percent— pledged to support the Law School with financial donations over the next four years.

Following the announcement of awards and the conferral of degrees (a ceremony that included the hooding of retired Virginia judge Bert Sachs ’58), Mahoney made a final, surprise presentation. The dean delivered to Kennedy the UVA Law diploma of the congressman’s great-uncle, Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy ’59, which was never collected. Ted Kennedy, in his rush to begin the election campaign of his brother, future President John F. Kennedy, skipped graduation and neglected to give the registrar his preferred forwarding information.

“Ordinarily, it does not take us 55 years to straighten out this sort of thing,” Mahoney said dryly, evoking laughter from the audience. “But better late than never.”