[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 69 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S5187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               BUDDY ZAIS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we all know the adage, that one is never 
too old to learn. I would like to call attention to a very special 
Vermonter, Buddy Zais, who embodies this truism.
  Last Saturday, May 11, Buddy was one of the 203 students to graduate 
from Trinity College of Vermont. What makes Buddy stand out in this 
crowd is that he is receiving his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy 
63 years after attending his first year of college at Boston 
University.
  At the age of 80 years old, Buddy is the oldest person ever to 
graduate from Trinity College. In true form, Buddy graduated with magna 
cum laude honors. Now that he has his bachelors degree behind him, he 
is looking ahead to the next challenge he will undertake. I wish Buddy 
much luck in his next endeavor. I've been his friend for over 30 years 
and I'm so proud of him.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article from The Burlington Free 
Press celebrating Buddy's graduation be printed in the Record.
  On a final note, I must add that it comes as no surprise to me that 
Sister Janice Ryan, the president of Trinity College of Vermont, was 
one of the forces behind getting Buddy started back on his degree. 
Sister Janice has been a good friend for many years. Buddy and I know 
only too well that once she sets her sights on something she makes sure 
it happens.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, May 12, 1996]

                   One Trinity Grad Magna Cum Lately

                            (By Tamara Lush)

       It took starting a business, raising a family and the death 
     of his wife before Bernard ``Buddy'' Zais decided to return 
     to college.
       Now, after 63 years, Zais has finally gotten his college 
     degree.
       The 80-year-old Zais was one of 203 Trinity College 
     graduates Saturday at the school's 71st commencement 
     ceremony. Zais received his bachelor of arts degree in 
     philosophy, and after the ceremony, had a few wise words of 
     his own.
       ``I figured before I check out, I ought to have a college 
     degree,'' said Zais, pausing to hug other graduates old 
     enough to be his great-grandchildren.
       As Zais--the oldest person to graduate from Trinity--was 
     handed his diploma, he received a standing ovation from the 
     hundreds of people who attended the ceremony at the Patrick 
     Gymnasium.
       Zais said he was prodded into going back to school by 
     Trinity College President Sister Janice Ryan, who marked her 
     final commencement speech Saturday, following 17 years as the 
     college's top administrator. Ryan is stepping down from her 
     post this summer.
       Shortly after his wife Mary died in 1992, Ryan asked Zais 
     how he and his family were doing. Zais reported his two 
     grandchildren had just gotten their college degrees. ``That 
     means that all three of my grandchildren, and my two 
     children, and Mary, had a degree, and I was the only one in 
     the family without one,'' he said.
       So Ryan asked Zais to apply to the school, and even had an 
     admissions counselor contact him.
       Zais, who formed a company called Health Insurance of 
     Vermont and had been an insurance agent his entire working 
     life, decided to study philosophy with a concentration on the 
     Greek philosophers.
       He received credit for the one year he had gone to 
     college--in 1933, he went to Boston University and studied 
     journalism.
       Going back to school and spending time with young people 
     was one of Zais' best life experiences. ``It was the most 
     satisfying, gratifying experience of my life, other than 
     raising my family,'' he said. ``It was much important than my 
     business life, much more important than selling insurance.''
       And Zais, who graduate magna cum laude, isn't going to stop 
     at one degree.
       He is considering attending school for his master's and 
     possibly his doctorate in philosophy. To do that, he said, he 
     might have to go out of state because no Vermont school 
     offers those degrees in philosophy. ``I'll have to go to 
     Albany, Boston or McGill University,'' he said. ``Will I do 
     it? Probably.''

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