AUCD Pays Tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921-2009
August 11, 2009
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| Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver with her son Timothy Shriver at the ceremony to rename the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute for Child Health and Human Development |
The Association of University Centers on Disabilities sends its deepest sympathies, prayers, and thoughts of gratitude to the immediate and extended family of Eunice Kennedy Shriver who passed away earlier today.
The AUCD network owes its very existence to Mrs. Shriver's concerted efforts with others such as Dr. Robert Cooke to establish research, interdisciplinary training, and model service centers in top flight universities around the country. Before Mrs. Shriver's initiatives, there were few if any efforts to understand intellectual and developmental disabilities in our nation's flagship universities. Because of her tireless commitment, multiple networks focusing on the needs of those with disabilities have evolved over the years. In the early 1960s, Mrs. Shriver helped her brother President John F. Kennedy to develop recommendations for legislation (P.L. 88-164 and P.L. 88-156) that resulted in the development of University Affiliated Facilities, which have evolved into multiple national networks including the 15 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs), the 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD); and the 38 interdisciplinary clinical training programs for children with special health care needs under Title V of the Social Security Act, which have evolved into the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Programs.
Mrs. Shriver, working with her brother, the President, and others, basically jump started the field which has benefited literally hundreds of thousands of individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. She served as a tireless advocate who used her quick intellect, boundless energy, and strategic genius to fight for those with intellectual disabilities to have access to not only full participation in sports, but also access to public education, affordable housing, employment, comprehensive health care, and the best of what science has to offer.
Michael Gamel-McCormick, PhD, President of AUCD, mourned the loss of one of the most important advocates for persons with disabilities that the nation has known. "Mrs. Shriver was the essence of advocacy and service. To watch her at a Special Olympics event was to see someone who fully valued the lives of persons with developmental disabilities and who valued their full potential as well. Her greatness was and will remain that she changed the way much of the country, much of the world, viewed persons with intellectual disabilities."
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Mrs. Shriver worked tirelessly and inspired others to do the same. George Jesien, PhD, AUCD's executive director, who had the honor of working for Mrs. Shriver at the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation in the late 1990's says, "Her bedrock commitment to those with intellectual disabilities and their families was 24-7 and 365 days per year. It was inspiring, contagious and courageous. She was always willing to face each challenge and obstacle as an opportunity to improve the lives of those with intellectual disabilities." Mrs. Shriver never relinquished her dream to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities and to help them reach their full potential to enjoy life to its fullest. AUCD joins with millions of others in celebrating Mrs. Shriver's incredible inspiration and personal legacy of making this world a better place for everyone to enjoy mutual respect, love and dignity. AUCD and its member organizations commit to ensuring that her mission, her legacy and her work continues.
- To read remembrances of others and share your own at a website recently established to honor Mrs. Shriver's legacy, go to www.EuniceKennedyShriver.org.
- Read a letter of tribute submitted by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs).
- Listen to a radio broadcast on NPR reflecting on the work of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and featuring AUCD Executive Director George Jesien, PhD
- Listen to a radio broadcast on NPR reflecting on the work of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and featuring Rudd and Ann Turnbull of the Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas and Paul Marchand, Director of the Disability Policy Collaboration.
The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), located in Silver Spring, MD, promotes and supports a national network of interdisciplinary centers on disabilities. The members of AUCD represent every U.S. state and territory. AUCD and its members work to advance policy and practice through research, education, leadership, and services for and with individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities. For more information, visit AUCD's website: www.aucd.org.
