Closer to home, members of the LBJ School community mourned the loss of a beloved teacher, friend, and colleague. Campus memorials to Professor Jordan began January 19 with a march from the UT Austin tower to the LBJ Library, where her body lay in state for 24 hours. Over the next three months, the local tributes were steady and varied: a public memorial service in the Frank Erwin Center, a schoolwide service in the Bass Lecture Hall, a series of brown bag seminars in her name, dedication of the LBJ Journal of Public Affairs and 25th graduation convocation to her memory, and the launching of a Barbara Jordan page on the Public Affairs Library's new World Wide Web site, to name a few.
The words spoken in her honor described a woman whose public image was larger than life, but whose private persona was full of warmth, humor, and humanity. Speaking at the memorial service in late January, DeAnn Friedholm (LBJ Class of '79) described her friend and former teacher in a way that speaks for the entire LBJ School community: "So why was BJ so special? so admired? so loved? Because she spoke to the highest good in us all--she taught us to know our own hearts and minds, and to travel the high road. . . . She believed that each of us can actually change the world, and her investment in us gave us the confidence that we really can."
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