Michael Bennet '87 Is Colorado's Senator

It's official! Last week, Michael Bennet '87, son of former Wesleyan President Douglas Bennet '59, was appointed to the Senate. Bennet takes over for Senator Ken Salazar who is now Obama's Interior Secretary.

In a recent Washington Post article, Bennet reflects on his father's influence.

"He said find things that interest you, that compel you, and when it's time to move on, something else will present itself," Bennet said. "In the end, it doesn't matter what job a person ends up in if it's an opportunity to make a difference."

Michael Bennet '87: Colorado's next Senator

Many sources close to Governor Bill Ritter have confirmed that Denver School Superintendent Michael Bennet '87 is expected to be selected as the next Senator from Colorado. He was considered a longshot for the job by many; John Hickenlooper '74, Ed Perlmutter, and Mike Miles were some of the other frontrunners.

In fact, Bennet served as Hickenlooper's chief of staff while he was mayor of Denver, before he became Superintendent of Schools. Michael Bennet had formerly been considered a possibility for Obama's Secretary of Education, but that choice went to Arne Duncan. Bennet was at least back to visit Wesleyan in 2006, where he gave a Weseminar called "The Education Race."

Michael Bennet is also the son of our university's last President, Doug Bennet.

Read up about Michael Bennet and his selection for the position of Senator:
Denver Post
Wikipedia
NYTimes Caucus
A fun story from 2003 about the relationship between Bennet and Hickenlooper
FiveThirtyEight

Congrats, Michael Bennet! We're proud of you.