Russert Speaks at Fordham University

Tim Russert was presented with an honorary doctorate from Fordham University after speaking at the graduation ceremony in New York on May 22, 2004. Russert has hosted Meet the Press for 12 years and is a political analyst for NBC Nightly News and the Today show. He anchors The Tim Russert Show on CNBC, MSNBC, and is a senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News. Russert has also recently published a new book about his relationship with his father called Big Russ and Me: Father and Son—Lessons of Life. Russert’s main message for the graduates was to remember the people less fortunate. He said, “St. Luke tells us that to whom much is given, much indeed is expected. Remember the people struggling alongside and below you, the people who haven’t had the same opportunity, the same blessings, the same Fordham education.” Russert reinforced the need for empathy in today’s world by reciting disarming statistics about American children without a good education, and included the plea, “If we are serious about continuing as world’s premiere  military, economic and moral force, we have no choice. We will need all of our children contributing and prospering.” ♦