photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

An earthwork portrait of Bob Dole adorns the lawn of the Dole Institute of Politics on Saturday, July 22, 2023.

It was a day to celebrate the late Sen. Bob Dole and the institute at KU that bears his name. But if you ask Gov. Laura Kelly, the former senator and champion of bipartisanship deserves more than just one day — he deserves a whole “Bob Dole month.”

“But the truth is, here in Kansas, pretty much every month is Bob Dole month,” Kelly said Saturday, getting a laugh from the crowd at the Landmark celebration at the Dole Institute of Politics.

The governor and other high-profile speakers were there to celebrate 100 years since Dole’s birth and 20 years since the founding of the Dole Institute. And while there was plenty of spectacle — including a giant earthwork depicting a smiling Dole on the institute’s lawn — the focus was always on the values Dole and his namesake institute are known for: civic engagement and working across the aisle.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal World

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks at the Dole Institute of Politics on Saturday, July 22, 2023, during the institute’s Landmark celebration, which marked 100 years since Dole’s birth and 20 years of the Dole Institute.

Kelly, a Democrat, told the audience that Dole, a Republican, was an inspiration to her “both as a human being and as a public servant,” and that “while in office, he always put country over party.”

“He believed staunchly that honorable compromise is what protects us from absolutism and intolerance,” Kelly said.

That took many forms over the years, she said, whether it was working with Democratic Sen. George McGovern to reform the food stamp program or partnering with his opponent in the 1996 presidential race, Bill Clinton, to raise relief funds after the 9/11 attacks.

It wasn’t just Dole’s work in Washington that Saturday’s event celebrated — it was also, as Kelly put it, that Dole “never forgot his small-town roots.”

He also never forgot his alma mater in Kansas, Washburn University, at which Kelly cut the ribbon of a new law school building named after Dole on Friday.

Washburn University President JuliAnn Mazachek spoke at the Dole Institute celebration and said that Dole made many return trips to his alma mater over the years and that he took great pride in interacting with the students there.

“I listened as he imparted words of wisdom on young men and women who were aspiring toward careers in law and public service,” Mazachek said. “Like Senator Dole himself, his advice was unpretentious and to the point. He always told them to work hard, help others, and never forget where you came from.”

She noted that Dole applied to other law schools, but needed one that was willing to make accommodations for the disabling injuries he’d suffered while serving in World War II — a difficult thing to find decades before one of Dole’s biggest legislative achievements, the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“When he approached Washburn he was told that if he was willing to work hard, we were willing to figure it out and work with him — and the rest is now history,” she said. “Suffice to say, this was one of the best decisions Washburn ever made. And of course, Senator Dole went on to work hard for others — doing so much for veterans, students, Kansans, and for disabled Americans.”

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World Photo

Washburn University President JuliAnn Mazachek speaks at the Dole Institute of Politics on Saturday, July 22, 2023, during the institute’s Landmark celebration, which marked 100 years since Dole’s birth and 20 years of the Dole Institute.

That legacy carries on at the Dole Institute, said its director, Audrey Coleman. Dole’s daughter, Robin Dole, knows that firsthand. At the celebration, she reminisced about when she told her father that she had been accepted as a member of the Dole Institute’s board of advisers, and he beamed with delight.

“He was so pleased that I would be part of a place that held such a personal meaning to him, and that he trusted with his legacy,” she said.

Also in attendance was one of Kansas’ current senators, Republican Roger Marshall. He told the Journal-World that he had idolized Dole since his grade-school days, and that Dole eventually became a close friend and mentor to him.

“It’s not lost on me that the shoes I’m trying to fill (in the Senate) are very large, indeed,” Marshall said. “I think of Bob Dole most every day. I walk by his portrait which adorns the Senate chamber, and when I walk out of the chamber I walk by the (Bob Dole) balcony.”

Alongside the speeches and tributes was the unveiling of the completed version of earthwork artist Stan Herd’s portrait of Dole, which had been under construction for the past several weeks at work days that had been open to the public.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

A crowd gathered for the Landmark celebration at the Dole Institute of Politics on Saturday, July 22, 2023.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Attendees at the Landmark celebration sing along with the band at the Dole Institute of Politics on Saturday, July 22, 2023.