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Janet Reno Visits Campus
Former Attorney General Janet Reno spoke to a full house in Kresge Auditorium on April 8. The event was sponsored by Stanford in Government and the ASSU Speakers Bureau. Ms. Reno was the first female Attorney General and the longest serving Attorney General since the Civil War.

The primary message of her speech entailed encouragement to students to go into public service. She remarked that while it may not be as profitable, and is often tough, hard work, public service is well worth it. She also remarked that no one can please everyone, so the best one can do is to just do the right thing. She ended her speech imploring students to "remember the people that love you; they are the most important in your life."

She defended her decisions concerning Waco and Elian Gonzalez, claiming that no one knows what the right decision would have been, but that she made the best decision possible given the circumstances. She also took full responsibility for these actions, and said that one just has to move on despite the criticism.

Ms. Reno also remarked briefly on a few policy matters. She believes that voter apathy is a serious problem in America. Moreover, she believes more needs to be done to better the lives of young children, such as government sponsored health care, prenatal care, and housing. Finally, she commented that civil liberties must not be sacrificed in the name of national security, which was the most direct criticism of the Bush Administration made during the speech. -GR

Page last modified on Thursday, 02-Mar-2006 00:22:35 MST.