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Senator Byrd

Leadership.      Character.      Commitment.

Robert C. Byrd:  A Lifelong Student
Growing up, Robert Byrd pushed himself to learn, to read, and to excel.  He graduated from Mark Twain High School as valedictorian of his 28-student class.  It was in those early lessons that Byrd found inspiration among the founders of the nation.  George Washington.  Benjamin Franklin.  James Madison.  Thomas Jefferson.

"After winning the Revolution, this generation put their vision of America into a workable form, a government that embodied the principles, ideas, and values for which they had fought and died," Byrd stated.

While Byrd was his high school class' valedictorian, it was 16 years before he could start college.  He worked as a gas station attendant, grocery store clerk, shipyard welder, and butcher before he ran in 1946 for his first public office, winning election to the West Virginia House of Delegates.  But election did not mean an end to Byrd's education.  Beginning in 1950, he took classes at Morris Harvey College and at Marshall College (now the University of Charleston and Marshall University).

When he started in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1953, Byrd decided to enroll in law school.  But convincing law schools to accept him without an undergraduate degree was a challenge.  Eventually, Byrd's persistence paid off and he earned his law degree from American University in 1963 -- ten years after he took his first law class.  No other Member of Congress before or since has started and completed law school while also serving in office.

The importance of an education has never been lost on Byrd, finally completing his baccalaureate degree in 1994 at Marshall University.  As he has never stopped learning, the Senator strives to help young people get ahead, as well.

"Across this country, we need to instill a passion for education in our students.  We must cultivate a bumper crop of excellent students if we are to keep pace in this rapidly changing global environment," Byrd said.

In 1969, Byrd launched his Scholastic Recognition Award, presenting a savings bond to valedictorians from West Virginia's public and private high schools.  Since he began to present these savings bonds, Byrd has recognized the achievements of more than 9,500 West Virginia students with awards of more than $221,000.

In 1985, Byrd created the only national, merit-based scholarship program funded through the U.S. Department of Education, which Congress later named in the Senator's honor.  Originally, the Robert C. Byrd National Honors Scholarship consisted of a one-year, $1,500 award to students who demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and who had been accepted for enrollment at an institution of higher learning.  In 1993, the program expanded to provide four-year scholarships, making students who receive the first-year scholarship eligible to apply for stipends for the following three years.  Today, this scholarship provides stipends of up to $6,000 over four years to high school graduates who go on to continue their education at a college or university.

"Too often, scholarships are awarded on the basis of excellence on a playing field, and not enough priority is given to excellence in the classroom.  We need to recognize and salute those students who work hard in the classroom, and we need to encourage more students to succeed academically," Byrd said.

The West Virginia Senator has been a leading voice in identifying ways to make schools safer for both teaching and learning.  In 1999, he joined with West Virginia University to host the first-ever statewide symposium on school safety, "Building Safe Schools and Health Communities."   The two followed that event a year later with the "Youth Summit" to hear directly from West Virginia's young people about the problem of school violence.

"While the seed of intelligence may be planted at birth, it requires cultivation, care, and hard work to blossom into culture and wisdom.  Together, the dedicated teacher and the eager student possess the magic to make brilliance," Byrd said.