[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S897-S898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ERNIE BOYER: A SELF-EFFACING LEADER
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, several weeks ago I attended a memorial
service for Dr. Ernie Boyer, a man who had dedicated most of his life
to improving education and educational opportunities for all Americans.
The memorial service was more of a celebration of who Ernie was and how
many lives he touched than a farewell. Speakers included his son Ernest
Boyer, Jr., Secretary of Education Riley, Senator Edward Kennedy and
the principal of a San Antonio elementary school Ernie nurtured along.
None of us said it better than a fifth grader who had gotten to know
Ernie Boyer, ``You say you don't know who Dr. Boyer was? You never got
to know him? Too Bad! You would have loved him.''
I am submitting the remarks made by several of us at the service and
hope my colleagues will take the time to read what Ernie Boyer meant to
a lot of very different people.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Remarks By Senator Paul Simon
William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet and later an Irish
Senator, in the mid 1920s wrote in a poem: ``The best lack
conviction, while the worst are full of passionate
intensity.'' It sounds as if he is writing about today. But
Yeats did not know Ernie Boyer.
His quiet demeanor, his ready smile and marvelous laughter,
his soft response to a hostile question were not indications
that he lacked solid conviction. He had backbone and vision
and an understanding of humanity that combined to make him
superbly effective. The Albany Times Union editorial tribute
concluded with this accurate assessment: ``He touched
millions of ordinary lives and made them better.''
The last time I talked to him by telephone, he spoke from a
hospital bed, only I did not know it until after I read the
story of his death. He was that kind of self-effacing human
being.
While we knew each other for a period casually, I first got
to really know him when President Carter appointed the
Commission on Foreign Languages and International Education,
headed by Jim Perkins of this city. Most of us on the
Commission did not know each other. Ernie suggested a few
names, and the White House added some. It turned out to be
one of those rare commissions where everyone worked, and
worked together with a common purpose, on a small budget with
limited time, and the end result changed the educational
climate in our nation--slightly. But slight changes, like one
or two votes in the Senate, can ultimately make a huge
difference. Ernie Boyer played a key role in the work of that
Commission.
His work as Chancellor of the State University of New York
earned him what I am
[[Page S898]]
sure were deserved laurels, but when he became United States
Commissioner of Education, then headed the Carnegie Endowment
for the Advancement of Teaching, he enriched the nation
immensely. In those positions he lifted all of us in ways
that never can be calculated fully.
Our friend attended Greenville College in Illinois, a small
liberal arts college, for his undergraduate work. Greenville
is sponsored by the Free Methodists. When he attended, female
students could not wear lipstick, and all students had to
take a pledge not to attend movies. The Free Methodists were
not too free.
But Ernie always felt gratitude to that school for the
opportunity it gave him. He learned to respect and understand
that part of our culture. From there he grew and reached out
across all the barriers of religion and race and ethnicity to
live a life of concern. He wanted a quality opportunity to be
the option for all in this nation and beyond this nation.
As we bid a formal farewell to the man, let us honor him by
not bidding a formal farewell to his ideas and his ideals. He
did not want a nation that has technically superb but useless
B-2 bombers and inner-city schools with no books in the
library and, too often, no hope in the classroom. He did not
want a nation eager to invest in more and grander prisons but
unwilling to invest in better schools. He did not want a
nation with great sensitivity to the whims of those of us who
are more fortunate economically but indifferent to the 24
percent of our children who live in poverty. He did not
want a nation of scholars who can carry on great
discussions but are unable to carry out great dreams.
Ernie Boyer: gentleman, scholar, dreamer, doer.
May we be the same.
____
Remarks From Alicia Thomas
Dr. Ikenberry, Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation, members
of Dr. Boyer's family, friends of Dr. Boyer, distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is my very great honor and
privilege today to speak on behalf of all the teachers,
students and principals in the Basic School Network. This has
been a time of great sadness for us all. We have lost a dear
friend. In the two years that we have worked together this
group has become very close, very united in our efforts to
improve schooling on behalf of this Nation's children. And so
for all of us there is a lot of affection, warm affection for
Dr. Boyer, much respect for him, and consequently a deep
sense of loss and a sense of absence that will always be with
those of us who had the privilege to learn from him, and to
engage in conversation and discussion. I think his voice and
his presence will always be missed, and we will never be
quite the same again.
But this is also a time of reflection on the richness of a
life, and the richness of a legacy. Of all the people I've
known, no one's life and legacy could have been richer than
Ernest Boyer's. His family was a great source of pride; four
wonderful children, grandchildren, a loyal and devoted wife.
But beyond family, Ernie Boyer's life was one of service.
Service to children, both in highly respected positions in
our Nation's government, and as President of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His life was very
rich. He gave of himself, and in doing so earned the respect
and love of all, family, friends and colleagues, and most
especially, teachers.
To Ernest Boyer there was no nobler profession than
teaching. He spoke movingly of the great teachers in his
life, including the famed first grade teacher, Miss Rice. And
he moved each of us to work with renewed purpose and
inspiration, to commit our lives to practice in an exemplary
way. Dr. Boyer wanted the best and the brightest in teaching;
he wished for loving and supportive first teachers in order
that all children succeed. Dr. Boyer felt teachers were part
of the strength and solution for our Nation's schools; he
knew that a truly great teacher changes lives forever. The
teachers at Jackson-Keller said simply, ``He stood up for
schools; he stood up for us.'' Kindergarten teacher Kristen
Dreyer said ``I just loved it when he told me `you are doing
the Lord's work.' '' And so we are.
I can't forget to mention Dr. Boyer's wonderful sense of
humor. He so enjoyed the funny stories shared about teachers
and children. He would dance the chicken dance with a group
of second graders, listen intently as Kindergartners
explained their drawings, chortle with laughter as Third
grade teacher Suzann Westermann sang ``Nothing could be
sweller than to be at Jackson Keller.'' Ernie Boyer just
loved people, and he believed the best in them. It was the
people that linked him to schools. And at Jackson-Keller he
was as beloved by the Head Custodian as he was by the
children, parents, and teachers.
Danal Jimenez, J-K Fifth grader wrote ``If I can quote
Shakespeare, `Alas, I knew him well.' Personally, I feel the
loss. He came from Princeton and made me feel special when
two years ago he gave me his firm handshake, special note on
his business card and friendly words. He was like an instant
quick friend and I will never forget him. Did you know he
loved the arts?
Danal's friend Michael Navarro said, ``A few days ago,
Jackson-Keller lost a great friend, mentor and thinker. He
helped the Basic School exist. You say you don't know who Dr.
Boyer was? You never got to know him? TOO BAD! You would have
loved him.''
Michael continued, ``The Asians had their Sensai, the
Indians had their Shaman, and we had our Dr. Boyer. Though he
passed away, he will continue to live in our commonalities,
and through our community of learners, and definitely in the
hearts of the children who knew him.''
During their visit to Jackson-Keller last October, Dr. and
Mrs. Boyer were serenaded by our third grade students. Our
children sang:
I am a child,
I am the future of the world, and just like every boy and
girl
I have a dream.
And when I dream,
The only way it will come true is if I'm gently led by you
And then set free.
In the Basic School Network, we have been gently led by the
words and the actions of Ernest Boyer, and we do believe in
this dream of the Basic School, a school committed to the
success of every child. I heard Dr. Boyer say on many, many
occasions ``the tragedy is not death. The tragedy is to die
with commitments undefined, convictions undeclared and with
service unfulfilled.''
Proverbs 29 tells us ``A people without vision shall
perish.'' But those with vision shall flourish. In the Basic
School Network we have each been blessed to learn from the
vision and commitment, the conviction and service, of this
fine man. We accept the challenge of Dr. Boyer's legacy, The
Basic School. It will live on because he taught us schools
are not about buildings and budgets, but about building a
better world for children. We learned from him that there
must be a school of quality and excellence, a place of love
and learning in every neighborhood, within the reach of every
child. And that the meaning of life is to create a life as if
it were a work of art.
We are thankful for the life of Ernest Boyer, and that each
of us was allowed to touch it, and be touched by it.
____________________