NEW YORK – The Thurgood Marshall College Fund mourns the loss of Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D), an American political icon, whose years of public service and bipartisan advocacy on behalf of elementary and secondary education, and higher education, health care and many other areas has earned him the title “Lion of the Senate.” Kennedy, during his tenure in the Senate sponsored or championed more than 2,500 bills that have been the building blocks of American social structure. He has been a real leader in civil rights, health care reform and education.
He was an advocate for the needy and disadvantaged and made this demographic a priority. Kennedy’s commitment to education made him instrumental in the passing of the “No Child Left Behind” Act in 2001, which enacted standards-based education reform in public schools across all 50 states. With the execution of No Child Left Behind, data reflects that the overall national academic achievement of minority students increased. The role he played as the driving force in the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Higher Education Act of 1968 made the achievement of higher education attainable for many who would have never had an opportunity.
Senator Kennedy chaired the Labor and Human Resources Committee and the Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee twice during a distinguished 47 -year Senate career! During these periods he played key roles with regard to Higher Education Act legislation benefiting the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including:
• Helping secure enactment of legislation to create Title IIIB, sponsored by the late Senator Paul Simon, which has provided more than $3 billion since FY 1986 for the HBCUs, has been the major funding stream for the HBCUs from the Federal Government;
• Since the departure of the late Senator Claiborne Pell from the Senate, Senator Kennedy has been the chief advocate for the Federal Pell Grant Program in the Senate and has shepherded two major bills through the Senate that have resulted in two major increases in the Pell Grant maximum award level – in the past five years - that have been of immense benefit to minority. Low-income and “first-generation”
• Senator Kennedy has also been a real champion for funding for the Federal TRIO Programs – Educational Talent Search, Upward Bound, Math-Science Upward Bound, Ronald McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program, and the Student Support Services (SSS) Program, which is of particular importance since the public HBCUs all have some type of Federal TRIO Program, especially the Student Support Services Program.
“Senator Kennedy was a highly respected and influential public servant whose career spanned four decades with a focus on equality in education, health-care, voting rights and immigration, he has opened doors for many,” said Dwayne Ashley, President & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “The nation has been affected positively by the good deeds that he did and we will continue to prosper for years to come through the initiatives he championed.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Victoria, his sister Jean Kennedy Smith and his three children, and the entire family during this time of bereavement. His legacy will live on through his countless efforts for fair practice.
