Nov 30, 2008 6:09 pm US/Eastern
Kennedy's Harvard Honors Is Latest Among Accolades
Steve LeBlanc, AP Writer
CAMBRIDGE (AP) ―
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Sen. Kennedy (File Image)
Alex Wong/Getty Images
When
Sen. Edward Kennedy receives an
honorary degree from Harvard at a special convocation Monday, it will give his home state yet another opportunity to recall both the Kennedy mystique and his decades of work in the U.S. Senate.
Those opportunities have been coming more frequently in recent months as Kennedy's admirers heap accolades on the 76-year-old senator as he battles
brain cancer.
The Massachusetts Maritime Academy has already announced it will rename its training ship The Kennedy in tribute to the Kennedy clan and officials in Boston have unveiled a proposal to build a national institute focused on the U.S. Senate and Kennedy's legacy.
Kennedy has even won honors from the governments of Mexico and Chile.
Of all the plaudits showered on him since his diagnosis with a malignant brain cancer, the special Harvard event is the highest-profile.
Harvard says the honor will recognize Kennedy's "lifelong commitment to public service and his tireless efforts as a champion for a range of social issues," including health care, civil rights, labor, the environment and education. Others who have been honored with special convocations include Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill.
Kennedy was originally scheduled to receive the degree at Harvard's commencement last spring, but was recuperating from surgery.
The event will be held Monday afternoon at Sanders Theater in Memorial Hall, an imposing Victorian Gothic brick building on the university's Cambridge campus. The schedule includes remarks by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Harvard University President Drew Faust, and a performance featuring cellist Yo Yo Ma. Kennedy is also expected to make remarks.
Kennedy, who graduated from the school in 1954, said he was "enormously grateful" for the honor.
"Harvard holds a very special place in the hearts of all the members of the Kennedy family, and I look forward to accepting this honor," Kennedy said Sunday.
Kennedy suffered a seizure in May and had brain surgery in June followed by chemotherapy. He recently braved cold, windy weather to attend the annual Harvard-Yale football game at Harvard Stadium.
He also addressed the Democratic National Convention in August and returned to the Senate in mid-November after initially planning to stay away until January. Kennedy, the second-longest serving member of the Senate, is laying the groundwork for a breakthrough on health care reform, a cause he has championed for decades.
He's also enjoying a spate of honors.
In August, the nation's oldest coed maritime college announced plans to rename its training ship from the T.S. Enterprise to The Kennedy.
The idea was initially proposed by U.S. Rep. William Delahunt to honor Kennedy, but later expanded to honor the entire family including late President John F. Kennedy, former U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and eldest sibling Joseph Kennedy killed while on a secret WWII bombing mission
Days later local officials announced they were seeking up to $100 million for a national institute focused on the Senate and highlighting Kennedy's contribution. The facility is to be located on Columbia Point in Boston on a four-acre plot between the University of Massachusetts-Boston and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.
Plans call for replica of the Senate chamber, programs to train new senators and archives of famous Senate speeches.
Sen. John Kerry praised Kennedy's "grit and guts" since his diagnosis and said the honors aren't a surprise given Kennedy's record of service.
"It's beyond words how much we love Teddy or how much he's gotten up every day against enormous adversity and decided to translate his love of country into action for his fellow Americans," Kerry said. "He's without peer when it comes to getting it done."
Not all the honors are domestic.
In July, Mexico announced it would award Kennedy the Aguila Azteca, the highest honor the government can bestow on foreign dignitaries. The government praised Kennedy for denouncing injustices against migrants. Kennedy also co-sponsored an immigration reform bill.
And in September Chilean President Michelle Bachelet presented Kennedy with her country's highest civilian award -- the Order to the Merit of Chile -- in recognition of his opposition to the country's 1973 government overthrow and his work to cut off military aid to dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Steve Grossman, a Kennedy family friend and a former Democratic National Committee chairman, said Kennedy appreciates the awards, but is focused on his job and the country's future -- especially the need for comprehensive health care reform.
"There's a natural desire to honor him for his decades of leadership, but any of us who have known him as long as we have know he's hard at work," Grossman said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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