Recent Activities
Reports indicated that the Senator expressed the wish that his wife would succeed him in office, and speculation towards that possibility continued during his illness.
Upon his death, some thought that she would be appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to take the Senator's seat until the special election could take place, but she declined and the governor instead appointed long-time Kennedy associate Paul G. Kirk. Some Democratic officials hoped she would agree to run for Senate to finish out her husband's term, but she declined again and instead endorsed Martha Coakley for the special election to fill the vacant seat. Coakley was defeated by Scott Brown. A year later, speculation continued as some noted Democrats saw her as their best chance to take back Senator Kennedy's seat from Brown and the Republicans in the 2012 election; however, she again declined, and the Democratic nomination was awarded to Elizabeth Warren.
Since the Senator's death, Kennedy has spoken at graduation ceremonies and received honorary degrees from UMass Boston, Lesley University, and the University of Maryland in the Spring of 2010. She also surprised the 95 members of the graduating class of Harwich High School on Cape Cod by accepting their invitation to speak at their June 2010 graduation.
Kennedy was invited to speak at the spring commencement of the Catholic Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, but at the request of Bishop Robert McManus, the Bishop of the Diocese of Worcester, Kennedy was disinvited by the college. The Bishop and other Catholic organizations had expressed reservations that a stalwart pro-choice advocate speak at a Catholic university.
Read more about this topic: Victoria Reggie Kennedy
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