Newtown resident Rob Cox, editor-in-chief of Breakingviews, the global financial commentary publication of Thomson Reuters, was in Burlington, Vt., Friday, October 10, to receive the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Vermont, honoring the mission of Sandy Hook Promise. Mr Cox is a co-founder and vice chairman of Sandy Hook Promise, a local organization formed in the wake of 12/14 to respond to the needs of the families immediately affected by the tragedy, as well as the community, and to prevent gun violence through education and empowering families.

Mr Cox said he was honored that his alma mater wanted to acknowledge the work of Sandy Hook Promise, even though he would “trade pretty much anything not to be here accepting this award,” knowing it was rooted in the events of 12/14.

In other remarks made at the October 10 awards ceremony, Mr Cox said, “In thinking about what guided my response to the massacre at Sandy Hook and what frankly has guided my career as a journalist, three core principles from the university’s mission statement stand out. Responsibility: ‘We stand together to uphold our common ground.’ I know that I and others who helped create Sandy Hook Promise, including another graduate of the [UVM] Class of 1989, Po Kim Murray, were guided by a sense of duty to help others in our community in their greatest time of need. It’s just what we do.

“Second, Justice: ‘We challenge injustice toward any member of our community.’ From the get-go, it was clear that what happened at Sandy Hook School was preventable and that we, as citizens, have a duty to ensure it does not happen again, to another community, ever.

“Finally, Education: John Dewey, the great educator and philosopher from the UVM Class of 1879, is credited with saying that ‘Education is not preparation for life. Education is life itself.’ The approach we took in those early days after the shooting was one of listening and learning. We needed to ask deep, difficult questions about how our community and our society as a whole failed in some way to prevent this awful tragedy from happening.

“All too often in this country, we think we immediately know the answers to our problems and we take hard, fixed positions, often refusing to understand alternative perspectives. It’s why we all seem to think our government is failing us. But I think what Dewey was getting at, is that your education is never complete.

“This is a core UVM value that has guided me in my career as a journalist, and as a citizen,” said Mr Cox. “Never stop asking questions and you will learn for the rest of your life.”