Sen. Evan Bayh to Address U.Va. Law Graduates
Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, a 1981 graduate of the School of Law, will address the graduating Class of 2005 Sunday, May 22, at 1 p.m., at commencement ceremonies on Holcombe Green Lawn. More than 350 candidates are expected to receive J.D. degrees, another 30 candidates will receive their Master of Laws diplomas, and academic honors and prizes to top students will also be presented in the culmination of the academic year.
Bayh, a two-term Governor of Indiana from 1989 To 1997, was elected to his second term in the U.S. Senate last year. He graduated with honors in business economics from Indiana University in 1978 and earned his J.D. at Virginia three years later. After entering private practice in Indianapolis, he was elected Indiana's Secretary of State in 1986. As governor he was known as a fiscally conservative Democrat who stressed lower taxes, job creation and efficient government. He enacted the single largest tax cut in the state's history and left office with the state enjoying its largest budget surplus ever.
As Senator, Bayh serves on five committees, including the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Armed Services Committee, and the Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, on which he is ranking member of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance. He is a leader of the New Democrat movement and a member of the bipartisan Senate Centrist Coalition, which stresses the need for sensible bipartisan progress. He is chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, which supports Democratic elected officials nationwide, and also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy, which promotes the expansion of democratic institutions around the world.
Bayh's legislative initiatives have focused on national security, job creation through small businesses, and tax relief for families facing college tuition, retirement, and long-term health care costs. He has visited American troops in Iraq and has been especially forceful on providing them with armored vehicles.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
