Posted 12:29 am Saturday, October 15, 2011
Send to Kindle
Starr Speaks To Men’s Luncheon About Education, Philanthropy
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
Ken Starr, the current president of Baylor University, likened his institution to a rose garden on Friday.
“A university should be a fertile ground for women and men to grow holistically,” he said to almost 500 attendees of the Texas Rose Festival Men’s Luncheon at the Rose Garden Center.
But a healthy garden requires more than a moderate climate and water.
“A garden requires the attention of a gardener,” Starr said. He spoke of the need for America to help fund higher education and that it is up to the institution to deliver education in the least expensive way.
Staff Writer
Ken Starr, the current president of Baylor University, likened his institution to a rose garden on Friday.
“A university should be a fertile ground for women and men to grow holistically,” he said to almost 500 attendees of the Texas Rose Festival Men’s Luncheon at the Rose Garden Center.
But a healthy garden requires more than a moderate climate and water.
“A garden requires the attention of a gardener,” Starr said. He spoke of the need for America to help fund higher education and that it is up to the institution to deliver education in the least expensive way.
There is a moral obligation to give back and America should help with the rising costs using a concept of “radical philanthropy,” Starr said.
He cited the example of Rice University in Houston when it was known as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science, and Art. When the school opened in 1912, the men and women who attended paid no tuition. Rice’s estate after his death funded the cost of the school.
Starr also cited Sadie Jo Black, Baylor University alumna and former home economics professor at that school, who died in 2010 at the age of 80. Ms. Black created an endowed fund medical research for Baylor undergraduate students in 2007.
He cited the example of Rice University in Houston when it was known as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science, and Art. When the school opened in 1912, the men and women who attended paid no tuition. Rice’s estate after his death funded the cost of the school.
Starr also cited Sadie Jo Black, Baylor University alumna and former home economics professor at that school, who died in 2010 at the age of 80. Ms. Black created an endowed fund medical research for Baylor undergraduate students in 2007.
“I have a message for the protesters of Occupy Wall Street: study, go back to school and get a job to help build a better America,” he said. And he thanked Smith County for sending 108 students to his institution this academic year.
He also discussed the tradition of the Texas Rose Festival, and how there were 23 young women who were representing that tradition in Tyler as the queen and other royalty in that festival.
He also discussed the tradition of the Texas Rose Festival, and how there were 23 young women who were representing that tradition in Tyler as the queen and other royalty in that festival.
There are often many generations of Texas Rose Festival royalty in the same family, Starr said.
“You have deep roots here,” he said of the tradition.
From 1994 to 1999, he was independent counsel for five investigations, including the death of White House counsel Vince Foster, the Whitewater real estate dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
His investigation resulted in the Starr Report, which asserted Clinton lied about his affair with Lewinsky in a sworn deposition. That allegation led to Clinton’s impeachment.
“You have deep roots here,” he said of the tradition.
From 1994 to 1999, he was independent counsel for five investigations, including the death of White House counsel Vince Foster, the Whitewater real estate dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
His investigation resulted in the Starr Report, which asserted Clinton lied about his affair with Lewinsky in a sworn deposition. That allegation led to Clinton’s impeachment.
Starr was born in Vernon, Texas, in 1946 and raised in San Antonio. His father was a Churches of Christ minister, and Pepperdine is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
He is a graduate of George Washington University, Brown University and Duke University Law School. Early in his career, Starr clerked for Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Dyer and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
He is the author of more than 25 publications, including “First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life.”
From 1994 to 1999, he was independent counsel for five investigations, including the death of White House counsel Vince Foster and the Whitewater real estate dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
He is a graduate of George Washington University, Brown University and Duke University Law School. Early in his career, Starr clerked for Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Dyer and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
He is the author of more than 25 publications, including “First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life.”
From 1994 to 1999, he was independent counsel for five investigations, including the death of White House counsel Vince Foster and the Whitewater real estate dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
