City Year Is Giving Bill Clinton Some Love During Event at Symphony Hall

Bill Clinton Photo Uploaded by mumansky on Flickr

While Hilary Clinton continuously avoids questions about a possible presidential run in 2016, her husband, Bill Clinton, is accepting awards for work done during his own time in the Oval Office.

On Thursday night, the former president will be honored with a “Legacy Award” during a concert and celebration of the 25th anniversary of Boston’s City Year program at Symphony Hall.

The non-profit organization, which “closes the gap” between what students need in school to succeed and what schools can actually provide, helps decrease the number of student dropouts city-wide by providing educational mentors to assist faculty members and teachers.

Officials said Clinton’s efforts to support these types of programs, and his steps to expand upon them when he was president, make him worthy of the honor at the anniversary gala on Thursday. “We are deeply grateful to President Clinton for his extraordinary belief in the power of diverse idealistic young people to change the world, and for his remarkable support of City Year,” said Michael Brown, CEO and cofounder of City Year. “His unwavering commitment and his visionary leadership have been a powerful force in City Year’s expansion.”

The sponsored event at Symphony Hall will feature music from the Boston Pops, and more than 2,000 attendees from around the country. Mayor Marty Walsh is scheduled to attend the event.

According to City Year officials, Clinton helped spread the word about the Boston program with the launch of the AmeriCorps initiative, when he signed the National Community Service and Trust Act in 1993.  By attaching the City Year name to the cause, it helped the program grow from one city to more than 25 across the country. It later inspired City Year’s first international affiliate in 2001, in Johannesburg, South Africa. “We are tremendously honored to express our gratitude to President Clinton for all that he has done to build City Year, found AmeriCorps, and to inspire thousands of young people to serve their community and country, here in the United States and around the world,” said Jonathan Lavine, Chair of the City Year Board of Trustees.