Fifty-six years ago, on the morning of November 25, 1965, over 5,000 University of Kentucky students, faculty, and staff assembled in Memorial Coliseum to pay tribute to America's slain president, John F. Kennedy. President John Oswald presided over the solemn convocation during which several people spoke including Paul Chellgren, President of UK's student government.
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| Paul Chellgren, UK Student Government President, 1963 |
Chellgren began by asking, "How can mere words adequately express the loss our country has suffered? By his actions and vitality John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been an inspiration to my generation. The skill and imagination he used to cope with his towering responsibilities captured the hopes of men and women everywhere. President Kennedy was a young man and like all young men he made mistakes, but he learned by those mistakes and rose in stature until he became one of our most outstanding presidents."
Recalling Kennedy's visit to UK Chellgren added, "Three years ago last month in front of our administration building then Senator Kennedy made this statement: 'These are hazardous times, an individual must think of an action he may take in relation to the rest of the world. And what is the rest of the world now saying: What's happening in the United States; aren't the American people capable of maintaining civil peace?'"
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President Kennedy with Kentucky Governor and UK Board Chair Bert Combs during Kentucky visit
James Edwin Weddle Photographic Collection, UK Libraries |
Then Chellgren challenged his fellow students and all Americans by noting that, "There is a significance of the assassination. We must dedicate ourselves to prove to the world the strength of a democracy. We cannot go on a witch-hunting expedition to suppress all radical groups because in doing so we will lose the tolerance and understanding which make America a democracy. We must show the world that America is not falling into a pit of violence and hatred."
"My friends, the time for mourning is ending and the time for moving just begun. The Captain has changed but the nation remains on course."
