Sen. Edward Kennedy, Nancy Hogshead-Makar
To Be Springfield College Commencement Speakers
 Senator Edward M. Kennedy  Atty. Nancy Hogshead-Makar |
Kennedy also will receive an honorary doctor of humanics degree, Springfield College’s highest honor. Both his late brother and his brother-in-law also served as Springfield College commencement speakers and were awarded honorary doctoral degrees: then Senator John F. Kennedy in 1956 and R. Sargent Shriver Jr. in 1963. Hogshead-Makar received the honorary doctoral degree in 2002.
Throughout his career, Edward Kennedy has committed himself to ensuring access to and affordability of higher education. He also has worked on issues including health care accessibility, education and immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, and clean air and water; as well as defending the rights of workers and their families, strengthening civil rights, assisting individuals with disabilities, and strengthening Social Security and Medicare.
The senior Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Kennedy also serves on the Judiciary Committee where he is the senior Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, he is the senior Democrat on the Seapower Subcommittee. He also is a member of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee and Congressional Friends of Ireland.
Hogshead-Makar was ranked number one swimmer in the world and later won more medals than any other swimmer at the 1984 Olympics -- three gold and one silver. She currently is a professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law, and legal advisor to the Women’s Sports Foundation, of which she is a former president. As an expert on gender equity in athletics, she has testified before the United States Congress numerous times, has been a frequent guest on national news programs, and has written numerous articles.
Named by “Sports Illustrated” as Florida’s 13th greatest athlete of the 20th Century, Hogshead-Makar also has received the prestigious Kiphuth Award as the best all-around swimmer nationally. She has been inducted into seven halls of fame, including the International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. In recognition of her leadership in defending Title IX, The Women’s Sports Foundation presented her with the Yolanda Jackson Give Back Award. Other awards recognizing her commitment to athletics and scholarship include her induction into the International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame and Hall of Fame for the National Association for Sports and Physical Education.
At its 120th commencement, Springfield College expects to award about 1,100 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, certificates of advanced study, and physician assistant certificates to students from 31 states and 6 countries.
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