After being hospitalized last week for dehydration, 92-year-old West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd died Monday morning. Thursday, his body laid in repose in the Senate chamber where he spent 50 years in office.
Byrd, the longest-serving member of the upper chamber at the time of his death, was initiated as an honorary member of the GW chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon in 1962. Honorary members of TKE are not required to participate in the pledge process.
GW Law School alumnus Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has succeeded Byrd in his role as the Senate’s president pro tempore – the longest continuously serving member of the chamber.
Byrd also studied at the GW Law School but earned his degree from American. The respected leader will be buried next to his deceased wife, Erma, in a private cemetery in Arlington, Va. following a five-day funeral ceremony that ends Tuesday.