U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer recognized the Maxwell School’s 100th anniversary in floor remarks recorded in the Congressional Record recently. A copy of the remarks was officially presented to Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke during a meeting with Schumer at the U.S. Capitol building on Nov. 21, 2024.

From Schumer’s official remarks, “I come to the floor today to congratulate Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs on its 100th anniversary. One hundred years. A remarkable milestone. A remarkable legacy. A remarkable school.”

Founded in 1924 by George Holmes Maxwell, the Maxwell School today is the top-ranked school for public affairs, according to U.S. News & World Report’s rankings, offering graduate and professional programs in public administration and international affairs, and undergraduate and graduate degrees across the social sciences, including signature interdisciplinary undergraduate programs in citizenship and civic engagement; environment, sustainability and policy; and law, society and policy. It is also home to 15 interdisciplinary research centers focused on topical areas within public affairs.

Schumer continued in his remarks, “The school’s more than 38,500 graduates are living and working across the globe, helping to inform public policy—including key legislation that has come before us here, helping to forge compromise amid divide, bringing aid to those in need and defending democracy.”

Schumer also shared that Maxwell alumni have gone on to become ambassadors, legislators, journalists and economists, with many notable names including former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala ’70 M.S.Sc./’70 Ph.D. (SSc)/H’87, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul ’80 B.A. (PSc), Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh ’05 M.P.A., and former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing ’66 B.A. (Econ), H’06.

“Though it is based in Syracuse, it has a strong presence here in the nation’s capital, offering programs, internship opportunities and world class instruction through a partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies,” Schumer continued. “The Maxwell School’s work supports the foundations and institutions of democracy itself, here and across the globe. This is vital at this time in our world’s history.”

As a guest of Schumer, Van Slyke also toured the Capitol and was able to sit in the gallery as the Senate voted on other matters.

“It was an honor to meet with the senator, and we are thankful that he recognized the Maxwell School’s contribution to our great nation over the past 100 years,” Van Slyke said. “That tribute will be in the official Congressional Record for the next 100 years and beyond. We are delighted to have such a strong supporter of the Maxwell School and Syracuse University in Senator Schumer.”

Schumer’s official floor remarks concluded, “I congratulate Syracuse University, the Maxwell School, Chancellor Kent Syverud, Maxwell Dean David Van Slyke, and the school’s faculty, students, staff and alumni for everything they do to leave the world better than they found it.”

By Cort Ruddy