Almost a year after the May 1995 rally, Senator Edward M. Kennedy headed a democratic forum at Northeastern University to address continued efforts by the Republicans to cut education spending by one-third before the year 2002.

The panel of 13, including Senator Kennedy, Senate minority leader Thomas Daschle, Mayor Thomas Menino, Northeastern University President John Curry, and Boston School Superintendant Thomas Payzant, met with students in the Ell Student Center on Monday, February 5, 1996. Senator Kennedy applauded Northeastern students for being the first student group to travel to Washington, D.C. in September to protest the proposed financial aid cuts.

Senator Kennedy insisted, “These largest cuts in education in the history of the country are now going on. We have to ask where our leaders are” (Northeastern News, 2/7/1996, pg. 1).