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Former RIT President remembers President George H.W. Bush's trip to campus for commencement speech

RIT

The 41st President was a commencement speaker in 1997 at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Albert Simone was President of the university then and shared a few stories of his day of the President, including how President George H.W. Bush came to speak at the school.

"A good friend, a close friend and the husband of one of my trustees, his name Jim Duffas, was the top pitcher on Yale University baseball team."

That’s the same team that Bush played on in college, so a quick call from an old friend got him all set up to be a speaker.

Simone said the first time they met was at a reception before the commencement

"Everybody was waiting for him and we thought he’d walk up the front door steps or something and wave. And all the media were there, the cameras. But they didn’t want the media to swamp him, so they sneaked him in through the garage, he came in through the kitchen, and came out that way."

On the way from the reception to the commencement, Simone said they had an opportunity to chat.

"I think there might have been a bodyguard in the front seat, I’m not sure. A driver, maybe a bodyguard and just President Bush and I in the backseat. And it takes maybe 15-20 minutes by the time you get in and park and everything, and we just one on one conversation, it was fascinating, some of the insights that he shared at that time, some of the pluses and minuses of the presidency."

Simone said he has a great respect for President Bush, and that he was a humble man.

"He didn’t talk about accomplishments, he didn’t talk about being the director of the CIA, he didn’t talk about being an ambassador, he didn’t talk about being a millionaire business man and building an oil company. He talked about people."

While Bush only spent a day at the school, Simone said the event is a highlight of his time at RIT. He says he’s had the chance to interact with a few former Presidents and politcal leaders, and his visit with Bush stands out.