Sen. Byrd Graduates 53 Years After Starting College
Friday, May 02, 2003
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fifty-two years after he left the former Morris Harvey College to pursue a political career, Sen. Robert C. Byrd is graduating.
The school, now called the University of Charleston, has awarded Byrd a bachelor of arts degree that he began work on in 1950.
Byrd can't attend Sunday's commencement because his wife, Erma, recently broke her hip. So, UC President Ed Welch traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to present the degree to Byrd.
Byrd's name will be listed among the graduates of the Class of 2003.
"It is a great honor for me to receive this degree," Byrd said.
Welch said the degree isn't an honorary diploma often awarded to dignitaries, but is a real degree based on Byrd's 27 hours of class work at the school and the skills and knowledge he gained in more than 50 years in Congress.
"Our process is that we recognize students' knowledge and skills. We give them credit. You don't have to be in the class to demonstrate a rather high level of knowledge and skills needed to graduate," Welch said Wednesday.
Byrd majored in political science from September 1950 to May 1951, attending classes while serving in the Legislature.
In 1952, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Byrd served three terms in the House, then was elected to the Senate in 1958. He later earned a law degree from American University.
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