On the 256th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth, U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) and Federal Appeals Judge Guido Calabresi received awards and gave public addresses as part of University Founder's Day celebrations.
Moynihan was awarded the 35th Jefferson Medal for Architecture and Calabresi, of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, received the 24th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal for Law at a luncheon ceremony in the Rotunda.
These awards, sponsored by the University and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, are the highest honors offered to non-graduates by the University, which does not give honorary degrees. Law and architecture fascinated Jefferson and the awards are meant to honor outstanding individuals in these fields.
In a speech punctuated by frequent laughter, Moynihan discussed "200 Years of Pennsylvania Avenue." He chronicled the development of the nation's capitol, particularly along the "Avenue of the Presidents," speaking to a crowd of about 300 in Wilson Hall auditorium yesterday evening.
Moynihan, a New York senator since 1976, has worked for decades to preserve various architectural landmarks including Union Station and New York's Battery Park City.
"He was thrilled and quite surprised" because this is an award usually given to exceptional architects, said Elizabeth Moynihan of her husband's reaction to receiving the Jefferson Medal.
"Like Jefferson, Senator Moynihan has championed" the cause of architecture and urban planning, said Architecture Dean Karen Van Lengen. "He is truly an extraordinary man."
Yesterday afternoon, Calabresi gave a talk entitled "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" to about 150 professors and students at the Law School.
"Like Thomas Jefferson, Judge Calabresi is something of a revolutionary," said Law School Dean Robert E. Scott in his introduction. A top legal scholar and the author of several influential books, Calabresi is "the father" of economic analysis of law, Scott said.
Calabresi discussed the principle of "communitarianism," or "looking after one another," as well as libertarianism and egalitarianism in interpretation of the Constitution.
Throughout this country's history, "the courts have gone back and forth [between libertarianism and communitarianism] on non-explicit Constitutional rights," said first-year Law student Carrie Bassi.
"Judge Calabresi was questioning which way we should go now," said first-year Law student Matt Burton. "He was asking how egalitarianism should be defined between these two interpretations," Burton said.
Calabresi stressed the disproportional effects laws can have on different groups of people. "Why is this so important? It is crucial because" our society is no longer "fully libertarian or communitarian," he said.
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