UD alumnus Chris Christie (right), pictured with Ralph Begleiter, director of the Center for Political Communication, during a 2011 National Agenda series presentation, has announced that he will join the Republican field in the race for the party's presidential nomination.

Christie announces

UD alumnus Chris Christie announces bid for GOP presidential nomination

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2:16 p.m., June 30, 2015--University of Delaware alumnus Chris Christie, the two-term governor of New Jersey, on Tuesday announced that he will join the Republican field in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

Christie made the announcement in his childhood hometown of Livingston, New Jersey.

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And as Christie made the formal announcement, some media commentators were speculating that another Blue Hen – Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. – could be considering joining the race for the Democratic nomination.

Either candidacy would continue the University’s legacy as the “epicenter” of national politics, a term coined by Bloomberg News during the 2008 presidential race when the campaign of Barack Obama included both Biden and adviser David Plouffe, an alumnus who went on to work in the White House, and the campaign of Republican John McCain included adviser Steve Schmidt, also an alumnus.

Bloomberg reporter Nicholas Johnston wrote then that “the academic epicenter of this year's presidential election isn't, as in some years past, Harvard or Yale. It's located between Baltimore and Philadelphia at the University of Delaware.”

More recently, Frank Bruni, columnist with The New York Times and author of the book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, has cited the University of Delaware and its graduates who have reached the national political stage.

Appearing on the program CBS This Morning on March 17, Bruni said too many prospective students look only to the nation’s elite universities, failing to consider that there might be better fits. “So why aren’t we talking about this maker of political kings, the University of Delaware?” Bruni said, adding the reason is “because we prefer the other narrative, which is not an accurate one.”

Christie is a 1984 UD graduate and a Double Del, married to 1985 alumna Mary Pat Foster Christie. Both were active in student government, winning back-to-back class presidencies.

The Christies have remained very close to the University throughout the years, with Mary Pat having served on the UD Alumni Association Board of Directors and both returning often for Blue Hens football and campus events.

Christie received the University’s Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement in 2003, and has spoken at Winter Commencements in 2004 and again in 2011, when he was presented an honorary doctor of laws degree.

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