He cited what he saw and learned while in Chicago as one of his inspirations for getting involved in politics.
“What I saw when I was in Chicago was how law really stacked the deck against opportunity, in this case for African-American people,” he said.
“When people organize and challenge injustice, they can have an impact,” he continued. “I saw how changing laws would provide fairness and opportunity.”
Bishop, who graduated in 1972 with a major in history, also recognized the Jesuit influence in his education.
“There’s a real ethos of commitment to others and public service that runs through a Jesuit education,” he said.
He also credited the political climate that existed while he was at Holy Cross with sparking his interest in his future career.
“The whole world was changing from 1968 to 1972,” he said. “It was impossible to not be politically aware.”
Moran, who graduated from Holy Cross in 1967 and studied economics, cited a particular moment at Holy Cross as his introduction to political issues. He remembered a student from Alabama delivering a racist speech during class.
“The priest who was teaching the class responded to his racist speech in a way that was the first time I had really seen somebody speak out on behalf of civil rights,” Moran said. “Experiences like that focus the heart and mind.”
The issue became even clearer when Moran went home the following weekend. There, he watched as a neighbor approached his father looking for signatures for a petition to prohibit a black family from moving into the neighborhood.
“My father was so incensed that he punched him in the nose,” he said. “All of a sudden I was exposed to an issue that I had been protected from in my white, middle-class, Irish-Catholic neighborhood.”
Looking back on his time at Holy Cross, Moran remembered his experiences with his classmates the most.
“The positive experiences came from my classmates and watching them develop their belief systems and interact with one another,” he said. “The classmates that I grew to admire the most and learn from were those who, when they got out of college, wanted to make it a better world, a more peaceful and more just world.”
As an example, Moran also pointed to a former roommate. He said the roommate failed a biology class after disrupting an experiment that involved watching a stray cat die. Because he so strongly opposed the experiment, the roommate set the cat free, which resulted in his failing the class and then being drafted into the Vietnam War.
“I chair the Animal Protection Caucus now,” Moran explained, “and I relate it to his sensitivity.”
Casey also credited his time at Holy Cross with some of the most influential moments in his life, including meeting his wife, who he says got the better grades of the two. But he also remembered the philosophical effects Holy Cross had on him.
A man from Kentucky attends a Tea Party Patriots rally on the West Front of the Capitol to protest the IRS' targeting of conservative political groups.
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