BOSTON (AP) — When Massachusetts Congressman Joseph Kennedy agreed to deliver a commencement address at the University of Virginia Law School, he didn’t realize he’d be receiving a diploma too.
At the end of Sunday’s ceremonies, Kennedy was presented with the diploma his great-uncle, the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, earned from the school in 1959.
Fifty-five years ago, Ted Kennedy skipped commencement because he was helping run his brother John’s presidential campaign. The university had held onto the paper degree.
After the student diplomas were handed out Sunday, law school Dean Paul Mahoney announced they had one more and handed it to Joe Kennedy, who is Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson.
He will give the diploma to Ted Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
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