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Date: April 2, 1998
Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa to Give Baccalaureate Address to Class of 1998
Princeton, N.J.&endash;U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, will give the baccalaureate address to the Class of 1998, which includes his daughter, Amy Harkin. The baccalaureate service, set for Sunday, May 31, at 2 p.m., marks the official end of the academic year at Princeton.
Harkin, now in his third term in the U.S. Senate, has broad legislative interests. He is the author of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark law that that protects the civil rights of more than 49 million Americans with physical or mental disabilities.
As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Harkin has worked to protect the interests of rural farmers he represents. A member of the Appropriations Committee, he has supported education funding, including efforts to give all Americans a chance to attend college. Harkin is also an advocate for making health care accessible to all and for ending waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
Harkin graduated from Iowa State University on a Navy ROTC scholarship and served as a jet pilot on active duty from 1962 to 1967. He continued flying for three years in the active Naval Reserves. He first gained attention in 1970 as a staff member for U.S. Rep. Neal Smith of Iowa. While accompanying a Congressional delegation to South Vietnam, Harkin unearthed the secret "tiger cages" used to detain political prisoners, including women and children. Harkin exposed the existence of the cages, and hundreds of prisoners were released.
In 1972, after Harkin and his wife, Ruth, graduated from Catholic University School of Law, the couple settled in Ames, Iowa. Harkin defeated an incumbent to win election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. Ten years later, he defeated another incumbent to win election to the Senate.
The Harkins have two daughters, Amy and Jenny.
Princeton’s baccalaureate address, once called the sermon, is one of the University’s oldest traditions. Formerly given only by the University president, the address is now given by an invited guest, chosen by the president after consultation with the senior class and other members of the University community. The baccalaureate address is part of an interfaith worship service that takes place in the University Chapel two days before commencement.