Blue-Ribbon Panel Inaugurates Annual Tribute to the Late Charlie Ross
The first in what will be an annual series of public events celebrating the
life of the late Charlie Ross featured a panel discussion of prominent
figures in the public eye. "Politics and the Public Trust: In Search of the
Next Generation of Civic Heroes" took place Monday, March 14, at 4 p.m. in
the University of Vermont's Ira Allen Chapel. The chapel was filled
to capacity with over 900 people and an overflow space was set with satellite
television for an audience of 200. Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute for Public Research, led the panel through a
fast-paced and wide-ranging exploration of what it means to be a hero in
the modern world, with the panelists invoking names and events spanning the
centuries - from St. Augustine to John Lennon - to illustrate their thoughts on
the nature of heroism.
Panelists included Frank Bryan, UVM political science professor; Adam
Clymer, long-time Washington correspondent for the
New York Times and
currently visiting scholar at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the
University of Pennsylvania; Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., attorney, author, and
environmental activist; Madeleine May Kunin, formerly Vermont Governor,
Ambassador to Switzerland, and Deputy U.S. Secretary of Education, and
currently distinguished visiting professor at the University of Vermont and
St. Michael's College; and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
The news media came in for some tough criticism by several of the
panelists. Kennedy branded the White House press corps as "stenographers
for the administration who are too timid in scrutinizing the claims of the
current administration." He went on to say, "a journalist's job is to do more
than achieve balance. It's to find the truth and bring it to the American people."
Clymer, a long-time member of the Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors at UVM,
said that despite the current bitter tone in American politics, "I think the
anger over Vietnam reached deeper." He said, "Political heroes may be in
shorter supply today in part because of the impact of technology, with 24-hour news coverage and
sophisticated computerized polling techniques making politicians too afraid
of offending voters to take controversial stands."
Charlie Ross was one of the most influential and well respected Vermont
public servants of his generation, having been appointed to positions of
public trust under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. He
was appointed chairman of the Vermont Public Service Board in 1959, and
President John F. Kennedy named him a commissioner on the Federal Power
Commission (known today as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) in
1961. In this capacity, Ross earned a reputation as a strong advocate for
consumers, environmental protection, and the public interest. His
dissenting opinion in a case involving protection of the Hudson River
established a critical legal foundation for the environmental movement.
President Kennedy then appointed him to the International Joint Commission
(Canadian-American) in 1962, a position he held for the next 18 years. He
and his fellow commissioners began the process of cleaning up the Great
Lakes, and he played a pivotal role in ensuring that the waterway of Lake
Champlain would remain free-flowing, which is crucial to the ecosystem of
the basin.
Mr. Ross and his family returned to Vermont in 1968, and he taught public
policy at the University of Vermont for two years in the early '70s. He
died in April 2003. The annual celebration of his life is made possible by
two of his former students, Bill Wachtel '76 and Scott Baldwin '76, who were
inspired by his example of devotion to public service.
