And so I think about the first time that I met Father Ted. It was actually at the University of Denver when he came with the Civil Rights Commission, serving our nation to help overcome some of our greatest and deepest wounds. A picture that would perhaps go very much alongside this one -- Father Ted, the activist for civil rights now called in to service by his government on the Civil Rights Commission.

I think I was about fourteen or fifteen years old at the time and my father was conducting a class for the University of Denver, called "The Black Experience in America," and he'd invited the Civil Rights Commission there to speak. And Father Ted was eloquent in talking about how our country had to overcome the particular birth defect that we had of slavery and how we were now in the great national agenda, the great national project of healing our wounds as a country and how much he valued his work for the Civil Rights Commission.

But of course, not only did he touch me by what he said, but he touched me also by getting to know my father and getting to know him really very well, which was important for a young girl who, as an only child of a Presbyterian minister, was looking to escape Denver to go someplace else to graduate school away from mom and dad. And so I was delighted when Father Hesburgh and my father conspired that Notre Dame might just be a fine place for me to go to graduate school (laughter). And so I did go to Notre Dame. And my next encounters with Father Hesburgh -- Father Ted -- were as a student at Notre Dame. And I guess my father, John W. Rice, probably thought that his only daughter was going off to Indiana, but it was okay because Father Ted would make sure that she was doing all right, towing a straight line and would keep a watch on her.

Now, I suspect that there are a lot of parents who sent their children to Notre Dame in those days, thinking exactly that about Father Ted. And you know what, they would have been right. Because when you walked across the campus on any given day, you might encounter Father Hesburgh who would stop and talk to students. He was rarely ever in that office. He was always out and around, in a sense, tending his flock, the students of Notre Dame, talking to them, hearing about their concerns, helping them develop. And I'll bet if you talk to almost any student who went to Notre Dame during his presidency, they have a story like that to relate. And perhaps if they didn't meet him personally walking on campus, they would do as we always did, which was to point to that light in the Administration Hall that was the Office of the Presidency and say, "Father Ted is working tonight." That's the kind of impact that he had on students. And of course, he also called us not just to educate ourselves and to be good students, but he called us to our great moral side.

And so one of the things that I remember most is the day of fasting that we would have at Notre Dame, when Father Hesburgh insisted that Notre Dame students would voluntarily give up their meals -- (laughter ) -- and that the proceeds from those meals would go to those who were destitute, whether they were in South Bend or in Gary or in Bangladesh. And it is something that I remember to this day, being called to do that.

It's not surprising that Father Hesburgh's world for us was always not just there in South Bend, not even just here in the United States, but the wider world. And so totally fitting that it would be Father Hesburgh's genius and his innovation that would bring the Kroc Center to Notre Dame, really putting Notre Dame on the map in international affairs and international studies, that he would serve several times for his country as a diplomat, in fact, I believe the first priest to be asked to actually go to the UN Convention on Science and Technology in 1979, that Father Hesburgh would be very active in the efforts attending the Middle East peace talks to work on issues of incitement, to try to overcome and bridge the hatreds that had developed over so many years. And that is work that I draw on, even today as I pursue Middle East peace on behalf of the United States and our partners.

And perhaps it would not be surprising then that Father Hesburgh, when he was given the Congressional Medal and the Medal of Freedom that his work on the international side was particularly noted. So I've known Father Hesburgh as public servant as he served in civil rights, as diplomat and concerned international citizen. I've known him as a student at Notre Dame, which is perhaps the best experience you can have with him. But I've also known him as a friend, as a spiritual guide and friend.

I received two letters from Father Hesburgh that perhaps speak to me and perhaps will speak to you for what he means in terms of spiritual guidance. Not long after my father's death, and Father Hesburgh knew him well, he wrote me a beautiful letter about my father and about the memories that I should hold of my father. But most importantly, he said, "And I know that the Father in heaven will be good to his eternal soul." And suddenly those comforting words meant a great deal to me because Father Hesburgh had put it exactly as I needed to hear it.

And not very long ago, I received another letter from Father Ted and in it he talked about the travails that we as a nation face in these challenging times. He talked about his prayers for me as I carry out our nation's diplomacy. But he reminded me that the most important thing that I could do whenever times were challenging was to say, "Come, holy spirit." And he said, "the spirit will be upon you." That kind of spiritual depth and connection is something that makes Father Ted in his role as statesman and educator and citizen of the world very special. But it's something, Father Ted, that has been deeply important to me, deeply affirming for me, and I know that all gathered here have similar memories of what you have meant and continue to mean to them. Thank you for being such a wonderful servant of our Father and of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and thank you for living in that spirit. (Applause.)

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