UNC Political Science Alumnus Senator Paul Wellstone Dies in Plane Crash

Senator Paul Wellstone died Friday, October 25, in a plane crash in his adopted state of Minnesota. Accompanying him on the plane were his wife Sheila, daughter Marcia, and several staff members and pilots who also died in the crash. This tragedy has deeply affected faculty and students in the Department of Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill, where Senator Wellstone received both his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees.

As an undergraduate at Carolina, Wellstone was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s highest honor society for college students. He was also a champion Atlantic Coast Conference wrestler, named to the all-ACC wrestling team.

He wrote his dissertation on “Black Militants in the Ghetto: Why They Believe in Violence,” under the supervision of William R. Keech. In his dissertation acknowledgments, he wrote “[Professors] William Keech and Joel Schwartz were the perfect modern, progressive dissertation advisors—interested, concerned, dedicated, and helpful.” Wellstone also thanked the subjects of his research, saying “I only hope this dissertation will help in some way toward the improvement of the lives of the finest, most beautiful people I have ever met,” and a fellow graduate student, Jim Stimson, for his extensive help.

Jim Stimson, currently the Dawson Professor of Political Science here at UNC, said “Paul Wellstone was the closest friend I have ever had.” Stimson noted that “Paul had a passion for teaching, he loved it, talked about it constantly, and drew energy from his students. He did POLI 41 [Introduction to Government in the United States] with missionary zeal, the style he took with him to Carleton [College].”

After graduating from UNC in 1969, Wellstone took a position at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he was a professor of political science from 1969 to 1990. Virginia Gray, currently the Winston Distinguished Professor of Political Science at UNC, was previously a professor at the University of Minnesota. “Paul Wellstone was a force in Minnesota politics while still a professor at Carleton College,” said Gray. “He defined his role as teaching the students to be activists; students left his class fired up about politics and eager to protest injustice.” She noted that Wellstone didn’t attend faculty meetings at Carleton because he was “too busy with real politics, organizing protests on behalf of farm workers or meatpackers on strike.”

In 1990, Wellstone was elected to the U.S. Senate. “Grass-roots organizing by his students to get out the vote was a key to his victory,” said Gray. During his 12-year senate career, Wellstone took stands on many issues, including opposing the use of force against Iraq. According to Gray, he was “the only senator in a close race to have the courage to vote ‘no’.”

When he died, Wellstone was in a tight race for re-election to the senate for a third term during the upcoming November 5 elections. Making tentative plans for his eventual retirement, Wellstone, according to Gray, was considering a return to teaching, “most likely at Chapel Hill.”

“Minnesota and the nation lost a great senator last Friday,” said Gray, "and UNC lost a proud graduate.”

For more information on Wellstone, click on the following links:

• Athletics Department
TarHeelBlue.ocsn.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/103002aab.html

• General Alumni Association
alumni.unc.edu/car/weekly/story.asp?sid=295

• University Gazette
http://www.unc.edu/depts/polisci/news/2002/wellstone2.html

Back to News