On April 12, Fordham announced that former Massachusetts representative and current special envoy to Northern Ireland, Joseph Patrick Kennedy III, will be the speaker for the 179th Fordham Commencement. According to Bob Howe, the associate vice president for communications at Fordham, the process of choosing a speaker starts in the fall when the Commencement Committee meets to discuss nominees. Contestants are nominated by students who fill out a form on the commencement’s website, and, as part of the form, the students describe why the chosen candidate deserves an Honorary Fordham Degree. Afterwards, the committee creates a list of the nominees that they send to the Board of Trustees, who then decide who will be the commencement speaker.
“Joe Kennedy III, special envoy to Northern Ireland, is a rising star in the political world. He is a brilliant and engaging speaker, and is thrilled to be speaking at Commencement. We could not be more fortunate to have him with us on Commencement Day,” said Howe.
Seniors had mixed reactions to this announcement. Christian DeJesús, FCRH ’24, said, “I don’t have too much knowledge of him as a person. Obviously, he has big family connections in a sense, so I’m definitely intrigued, and want to know more about him.”
Jake Verespy, FCRH ’24, stated, “I don’t have anything against him, so I’m excited to see what happens.”
Not every senior is absolutely thrilled about the choice, however. Leah Veneziano, GSB ’24, said that Kennedy was “probably not the person I had hoped [for].” Nathaniel Corven, FCRH ’24, said he felt more lukewarm on the choice: “I’m looking forward to the commencement as a whole, mostly the ceremony in general [but] I don’t have one strong opinion on the commencement speech one way or another.” That said, some students said they were looking forward to the speech. “I’m looking forward to hearing how he crafts his message,” Veneziano said. “He is a politician, and I’m sure he’ll be really well-spoken, but I’m not sure what to expect.”
After graduating from Harvard Law School and serving as the assistant district attorney, Kennedy began his political career in 2012 by running for Massachusetts’ 4th District in the House. After winning with 59.3% of the vote, he won the seat that would remain his until his unsuccessful run for senator in 2020. While serving in the House, Kennedy helped pass bills that authorized research on Autism Spectrum Disorder, expanded education programming for the Holocaust Museum and improved the monitoring of cancers in firefighters in a voluntary registry. In 2020, Kennedy retired from the House to run for the Class II Massachusetts Senate seat against incumbent Ed Markey. He ended up losing to Markey in the primary for the seat by about 10%.
Joseph will be the third member of his family to speak at Fordham’s Commencement after his grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy spoke in 1967, just a year before his assassination, and his uncle, Ted Kennedy, who spoke two years afterward.
“It’s an honor to be able to celebrate the graduating class of 2024,” Kennedy said. ”Fordham has a rich history of being a diverse and welcoming community that centers justice and fighting for those most vulnerable. It is in that spirit my grandfather lived his life, so it’s incredibly meaningful to have the opportunity to address Fordham’s graduating students almost 60 years after he did the same.”
