August 08, 2011
With
the rest of our New York community and the nation, St. John’s
University celebrates the life and mourns the passing of the
Honorable Hugh L. Carey, former governor of the State of New York.
A double alumnus, Governor Carey received his Bachelor of Arts from
St. John’s College in 1942 and graduated from the School of Law in
1951. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1967. He died on
Sunday at his summer home on Shelter Island at the age of 92.
Governor Carey amassed a truly remarkable record of service within
both the public and private sectors. A decorated World War II
veteran, he was part of the unit that liberated the Nordhausen
Concentration Camp from the Nazis and was awarded the Combat
Infantry Award, the Bronze Star, and the Croix de Guerre. He
entered politics in 1960 and was elected to seven terms in the
United States House of Representatives. He was a member of the
powerful Ways and Means Committee and authored several pieces
of landmark legislation designed to assure equitable treatment of
the disabled. But his most memorable accomplishments were to come
during his two terms as Governor of New York State. Serving from
1975 to 1982, he is widely credited with saving the City of New
York from bankruptcy during the fiscal crisis of the 1970’s. Among
the other accomplishments of his administration were inauguration
of the memorable “I Love New York” campaign and establishment of
the famed Empire State Games, another of his determined efforts to
foster equity for the developmentally challenged.
Following his political career, he returned to the practice of law,
serving at one point as an Executive Vice President at W.R. Grace
and Company and head of the firm’s Office of Environmental Policy.
More recently, he was Senior Partner at Harris Beach, one of the
nation’s top 250 law firms.
For almost three-quarters of a century, Hugh Carey, since his days
as a freshman in 1938, has remained an integral part of this
university as friend, active alumnus, and generous
benefactor. With pride in and gratitude for his
accomplishments, St. John’s has conferred upon him virtually every
honor it has to give. In addition to the honorary doctorate, the
University presented him with the President’s Medal, the Pietas
Medal, the Medal of Honor, and the Spirit of Service Award and
inducted him into the Heritage Circle. Governor Carey participated
in a broad range of University activities and was a longtime
Loughlin Society member. The Hugh and Helen Carey Residence
Hall, located on the Queens campus and named for Carey and his late
wife, was dedicated in 2004 and will remind generations of future
students of his life and achievements. Among the most
memorable of his public achievements was his service as one of the
“Four Horseman,” a group that included Senators Edward Kennedy and
Daniel Patrick Moynihan and U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill
and that laid the groundwork for a peaceful solution to the
conflict in Northern Ireland. This desire for peaceful
reconciliation animated his most recent gift to St. John’s –
establishment of the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution in
the St. John’s School of Law in 2009, which will remain as a
permanent memorial to his vision and values.
I know that the St. John’s community joins me in extending its
prayers and deepest sympathy to the Carey family in this time of
sorrow and in thanking God for the gift of this truly extraordinary
man.