‘A STAR IN LIFE’
Today, Culver remains chair emeritus of the IOP’s senior advisory committee.
Former Kentucky Secretary of State C. M. “Trey” Grayson ’94, who was appointed director of the IOP after Culver’s interim service, said that Culver remains a legend within the organization. He said that when, as a student, Grayson gave reports to the senior advisory committee, Culver and Kennedy made him feel like his ideas mattered and would have an impact.
“I remember my first big report, I guess I was probably 19,” Grayson said, “I called home and was like ‘Mom, I just gave this report and all these senators, and governors, and Senator Kennedy and John Kennedy Jr., they all listened to me.’”
Culver, once a Harvard undergraduate himself, loved working with the students at the IOP as interim director.
“I think that they’re the most stimulating group of young people in the country. Their energy, intelligence, enthusiasm, and commitment to the activities they’re involved in, is remarkable,” Culver said. “It was a wonderful six months working with the students and the staff there.”
This affection was mutual. The staff at the IOP loved him as much as the students did, Grayson said. He added that they still talk about him all the time.
“He was a sports star and he was a star in politics and kind of really a star in life. So that’s why he’s kind of a legend around here,” Grayson said. “My only hope is that when I get out of here after a while, people will talk about me the same way they talk about him.”
“I remember him holding court in his office,” said Jeffrey F. Solnet ’12, former president of the student advisory committee at the Institute. “There must have been 20 to 30 students listening to him, in awe, telling his stories of Teddy, when they were students, and this and that.”
“He was an amazing storyteller,” added Solnet.
Sarah E. Esty ’11 served as vice president of the IOP while Culver was interim director.
“He was very supportive of the work we were doing and committed to making sure we expanded new opportunities,” she said. “He really embodied for many of us what it means to dedicate your life to politics and public service.”
So, when Culver was unable to attend the last meeting of the senior advisory committee, the board gave him the same courtesy that he had extended to his old friend Kennedy. At the end of the meeting, Grayson explained, the committee called Culver and checked in on him.
“We told him that for attendance purposes, it counted,” Grayson said.
—Staff writer D. Simone Kovacs can be reached at dkovacs@college.harvard.edu.