Courage, Faith and Service

Emphasizing the importance of former United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords’ Jewish values, her husband, Mark Kelly, spoke of the moment when his wife confronted her would-be assassin in court at his sentencing.

“She told him that he has not put a dent in her spirit, or her desire to make the world a better place,” Kelly said, as he led Giffords to the podium.

Standing unaided, Giffords, whose grandfather was descended from a long line of 13 Lithuanian rabbis, said, “Thank you for inviting me here today. It’s been a long, hard haul, but I’m getting better. I’m working hard, lots of therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and yoga, too. But my spirit is strong as ever. I am still fighting to make the world a better place and you can, too. Get involved with your community, be a leader, set an example. Be passionate, be courageous, be your best.”

More than 500 people rose to their feet to applaud the former congresswoman. They had gathered at Town and Gown on the USC University Park campus to hear Giffords and Kelly share their inspiring personal story as they delivered the 14th annual Carmen and Louis Warschaw Distinguished Lecture on March 8.

The annual lecture series, established by the late Carmen and Louis Warschaw with an endowment gift in 1999, offers a unique chance to peek into the experiences of esteemed political figures and how Jewish life and culture inform their lives. Hosted by USC Dornsife’s Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life, the lecture has brought past speakers such as Senator Al Franken and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

A retired astronaut and U.S. Navy Captain, Kelly has risked his life both for his country and for the sake of scientific innovation and discovery. He has spent more than 50 days in space and is one of only two people in the world who has visited the International Space Station on four different occasions. During his career as a naval aviator, he amassed 6,000 flight hours and participated in 39 combat missions during the Persian Gulf War.

The youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate, Giffords ran in six elections in her home state and won them all. During her tenure in the U.S. Congress from 2007 to 2012, she championed energy independence and military families and veterans’ needs.

On Jan. 8, 2011, she survived a gunshot wound to the head as she was meeting constituents at an outdoor “Congress on Your Corner” event in a Tucson, Arizona, suburb. Six people were killed in the assassination attempt. Critically injured, Giffords continues to undergo physical and speech therapy.

“When Gabby entered Congress in 2007, I thought I had the risky job,” Kelly said. “I’d flown 39 combat missions and two flights into space. But as it turned out, Gabby was the one who nearly lost her life serving her country. What happened that day would certainly become the biggest challenge we would ever face.”

Kelly’s faith in his wife was unshakeable. “I thought, ‘If anybody can take this on and overcome it, it was Gabby Giffords,” he said.

Giffords proved her husband right: her indomitable spirit remains an inspiration. Just four months after nearly losing her life, Giffords flew to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch her husband lead the shuttle Endeavour’s final voyage into space. Six months after the attack, she insisted on attending Congress to vote on the bill to raise the debt ceiling.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Gabby,” Kelly said. “After everything she went through, to be there one more time to have her voice heard. I think a New Jersey newspaper may have described it best. They said ‘After months of rancor and pettiness, one small woman brought Washington to its knees. We can compromise on how we fund America, we cannot compromise on how we define America. That definition does not require words. Just look at Gabby Giffords.’ ”

From left, USC Dornsife Dean Steve Kay, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Hope Warschaw, Captain Mark Kelly, and Steven Ross, professor of history and co-director of the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life housed at USC Dornsife.

In introducing Giffords and Kelly, USC Dornsife Dean Steve Kay said they embody the true spirit of the Jewish concept of tikkun olam — “making the world a better place,” or fixing what is broken in our society.

“Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly are the ideal role models for all of our students and for everyone in this room, this country and in the world,” Kay said. “They are a team composed of two extremely tenacious, successful and selfless individuals who are just as proud of each other’s victories as they are supportive of each other’s hardships.”

“Congresswoman Giffords has chosen to make her own pain secondary to showing compassion for people who have been victims of gun violence and being proactive to protect those who may be in the future,” Kay said. “She has put in the grueling hours regaining strength, speech and mobility. And then, rather than let her voice be silenced, she has relied on both inner strength and her husband to let her powerful eloquence be heard across the country once again.”

Following the tragic shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six teachers lost their lives, Giffords and Kelly started Americans for Responsible Solutions. The organization is dedicated to keeping Americans safe though improved gun control laws.

“Eighty percent of all kids in the industrialized world who die of gun violence die in the U.S.,” Kelly said. “2015 is the year more children will die from gun violence than from car accidents.”

“We’re trying to advocate for more reasonable gun laws, like a universal background check before buying a gun,” Kelly said. “Unfortunately, 40 percent of gun sales in this country happen without that background check.”

“It’s obviously an incredible challenge. There’s a pretty big lobby out there that is very effective in promoting its views and values and positions on an issue that results in our country having 15 to 20 times the death rate from gun violence than any other industrialized country. We rank with countries like Iraq and Yemen, Mexico and Brazil when you look at death rates from gun violence.

“I didn’t realize that,” said Kelly, adding that both he and his wife are gun owners and strong supporters of the Second Amendment.”

Their initiative has had a lot of success, Kelly said, adding that it now has 800,000 supporters.

Kelly said Giffords’ determination to take action on gun laws came about “not because she was injured in that horrific attack in January 2011, but because Gabby is about service. When she saw that 20 little kids needlessly died in their classroom she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could be a little bit helpful in trying to prevent that happening again.”

Speaking first, Kelly also regaled a rapt audience with courageous tales of his time as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Describing flying into Iraq on his first bombing mission in January 1991, he recounted how it felt to be under attack from anti-aircraft missiles and spoke of a disastrous lack of communication that almost cost him his life. He described how it felt to be inside the space shuttle as it took off on its last flight. “You accelerate from zero to 17,500 miles per hour in eight and a half minutes,” he said. “It’s like the hand of God coming down and grabbing you and ripping you off the planet.”

Interim Provost Michael Quick, senior vice president for academic affairs and professor of biological sciences, thanked the Warschaw family for their support of USC’s academic mission and vision over so many years.

“We are eternally grateful for the continued support from Hope Warschaw,” Quick said. “Hope and her family have made a difference not just here at USC but throughout the city and the state, assuming leadership roles in politics, religion, the arts and civic engagement initiatives.”

Saying she was incredibly honored to call them her friends and describing their talk as ‘inspirational, funny, charming and poignant,” Hope Warschaw, Carmen and Louis’ daughter, presented Giffords and Kelly with USC sweatshirts. “My parents always thought there was something in Jewish culture that led people to participate in civic life,” Warschaw said. “My mother, in particular, loved to hear people’s stories, where they came from and how they got to be who they were. So, to continue this lecture series I thought was very important.”

Kelly said Giffords’ ambition to serve her community as a member of Congress was part of her goal to strive for tikkun olam.

“When bad things happen to good people, you can get past them,” Kelly said, adding that it was the strength his wife drew from her Jewish values that allowed her to do this.

“Often one of the last things Gabby will say to me before going off for therapy or a doctors appointment [is], ‘Fight, fight, fight,’ ” Kelly said. “She reminds me every day to not give up, to work hard and to move ahead.”

Saying that few speakers can be as moving on personal and intellectual levels as Giffords and Kelly, Quick said the couple stand for so many of the values fostered and furthered at USC.

“I tell our students I hope one of the lessons we teach them and that they learn while at college is to be resilient in the face of adversity. I can only hope they approach any adversity they experience with the same grace, honor and resiliency shown by Representative Giffords and Captain Kelly,” Quick said. “We say ‘Fight on!’ a lot at this university. I think I finally understand what that phrase really means.”