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Murray, Warren receive awards from CDBC

By Tue Tran, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, on April 16, 2010 12:27 PM

By Tue Tran, Editor-in-Chief -

Thursday, the 3rd recipient of the annual Father Robert Drian Award was Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray. The award was given by the College Democrats of Boston College (CDBC), and the event was held in Burns Library.

“We decided to give this award to Lt. Gov. Tim Murray because, throughout his life in public service, he has always fought to ensure that everyone is given a fair shot to succeed, like Fr. Drinan,” said Kristoffer Munden, vice president of CDBC and A&S ’11.

Murray attended Fordham University and received his law degree from the Western New England College School of Law. He also worked for what is now the Department of Transitional Assistance, where he helped women and their children find stable places to live. And this was an influential part of his career in public service, Murray said.

He told the audience of when he became lieutenant governor, he received an email from a woman who asked if he was the “Tim Murray” who had helped her and her children find a home many years ago, which he was. It turns out that her children were later able to receive a college education – one had just graduated from law school at the time of the email.

This demonstrates, Murray said, that in one generation, their family’s course was changed due to one woman’s perseverance and some assistance to find the stability that everyone needs in life. “That’s something we should all be doing,” Murray said, referring to helping others in times of need. “We can’t rely on the survival of the fittest. We can’t settle for that as Democrats. And we can’t settle for that as Catholics.”

Murray served on the City Council of Worcester prior to becoming mayor of Worcester, and he assumed his current office in 2007.

CDBC also established a new award this year to recognize the potential in newer Democratic politicians.

“Well, after the success of the first presentation to John Kerry, we really wanted to expand the awards to include an award for a younger Democrat,” said Rachel Lamorte, president of CDBC and A&S ’10. “CDBC works on so many local campaigns and gets to know some politicians very well, and we thought the new award would be an amazing way to honor them.”

CDBC gave Mayor of Newton Setti Warren, BC ’93, this award. “Setti Warren was an easy choice,” Lamorte said. “He has had an amazing life of public service already, and CDBC worked on his campaign and was very impressed by his dedication to Democratic politics.”

After the awards were given, Murray and Warren took questions from the audience. When asked about what the priorities are for their policies, they both agreed that they were getting more people involved and the economy. Warren, who was recently elected mayor, also wanted local government to be more responsive and inclusive.

“Newton has the opportunity to be a real leader,” Warren said, about investing in the future. “We can be the greenest community.”

When asked about those who cannot reconcile being Catholic and being a Democrat, Murray said that over the last century to today, there are many Democratic policies that make the family stronger that the Catholic Church also supports. “We’ve checked unbridled capitalism that would be detrimental to families,” noting the limit of hours in a work week to 40.

A reception concluded the event.

Fr. Drinan was former Dean of the Boston College Law School and Democratic member of Congress. He was noted for being a champion of human rights and social justice.

Past recipients include US Senator John Kerry and Democratic Party Strategist Donna Brazile.