JFK's Last California Speech
Near La Jolla, California
On June sixth, nineteen sixty-three, President John F. Kennedy stood on this campus at San Diego State University to deliver the commencement address. It was one of his final public appearances in California. That day, Kennedy received the first honorary doctorate ever awarded by the California State University system.
Kennedy arrived by motorcade along El Cajon Boulevard. He was assassinated on November twenty-second, nineteen sixty-three. A commemorative plaque here recalls his visit, connecting this sunlit campus ceremony to one of the darkest days in American history.
