The University of Vermont named its honors college after former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on Friday, a sign of appreciation for the long-serving lawmaker’s impact on the state and university.
At a Friday meeting, the university’s board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a resolution renaming the college the Patrick Leahy Honors College.
“We do not assign names to our academic programs at UVM lightly or without deep consideration,” UVM President Suresh Garimella said Friday during a ceremony at the university’s Davis Center. “The Patrick Leahy Honors College will be the most prominent marker of this amazing leader’s legacy in perpetuity, and a site for our students to follow his remarkable example of learning, leadership and service.”
Leahy, 83, retired in January after a 48-year career representing Vermont in the U.S. Senate. At the event, which he attended with his wife, Marcelle, the former lawmaker praised the work of the honors college’s students. He called them “the future of our country.”
“At a time when we see people being torn apart, see people banning books, banning education — here you’re encouraging education, you’re encouraging people to think, you’re encouraging men and women to be their best,” Leahy said, an apparent reference to partisan attacks on public education and library books.
“I’m honored to have my name on there, of course,” he added.
The christening underscores how Leahy’s nearly half-century in service to Vermont has shaped the university, the state and the nation. As the third longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Leahy cast more than 17,000 votes in the chamber and championed issues from organic food standards to limits on the use of landmines.
From his perch on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy also helped direct millions of dollars in federal earmarks to Vermont and, in particular, UVM.
At Friday’s event, Garimella praised the largesse Leahy directed toward the university.
Leahy is “perhaps the single greatest benefactor to the University of Vermont,” Garimella said. “As we’ve been planning ways to celebrate his legacy, I asked, ‘How much money has the senator helped direct to UVM in his career?’”
“At this point,” Garimella said, “the answer is literally incalculable.”
The renaming is the latest in a string of honors bestowed upon the former senator following his retirement. Since March, Leahy has been a President’s Distinguished Fellow at the university, a role in which he gives guest lectures and advises students. And earlier this month, the Burlington City Council voted to name the city’s airport the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport.
