UD’s public policy and administration program prepares students for success, and alumni have served in municipal, state and federal offices. UD has produced mayors, governors, senators, house members, a vice president and, now, a president.
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his family moved to Claymont, Delaware, when he was 10 so his father could look for a better job. After enrolling at UD in the fall of 1961, Biden got a taste for political affairs as a first-year student, when he served as president of his class. An avid athlete, he played defensive back on the Blue Hen football team during his first year. Biden majored in history and political science.
“There was no question he was smart,” the late political science Professor David E. Ingersoll said in a 2008 story in UD Magazine. “When he put his mind to it, he could do anything.”
One lesson internalized while on campus became especially impactful during a decorated political career. In 2014, during the latest of four Commencement speeches given at UD, the then-vice president addressed the tumultuous 1960s when he was an undergraduate student. The period included the escalation of the nuclear arms race, the increasing violence around the Civil Rights Movement and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which Biden said he learned about while standing on the steps of Hullihen Hall.
“While I was here at this great University, I had the good fortune to have professors who helped me put this chaos that surrounded us in perspective,” Biden told the crowd, pointing specifically to the late political science Professor Paul Dolan. “They advised me, they challenged me, they helped me understand the change that was happening. But, most importantly, they argued that it was within our power to fix America because of the incredible foundation upon which this nation was built…. They gave me confidence in myself and confidence in the resiliency of the United States of America.”