John F. Kennedy Jr.’s application to Brown University — filled out by his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, because he was away in Kenya — plus newly unearthed letters between the former first lady and his professors, reveal JFK Jr.’s academic struggles and his mother’s determination that he complete college.
The remarkable 1978 application and later letters, which had been kept by an administrator at Brown, show how hard Jackie worked to keep her charismatic but easily distracted son from flunking his courses.
The documents also reveal how she didn’t expect any special treatment for her children, despite their famous name. On the application, Jackie, writing for JFK Jr., listed his late father as being in “government.” In the “autobiography” section, she wrote, “Family life: Mother, sister grew up in New York City. Spends part of the summer by the sea in New England with many cousins,” she wrote, delicately avoiding dropping the family name. In a later letter to John’s college dean, she wrote, “I have never asked for special consideration for my children because I feel that is harmful to them.”
It was widely reported that JFK Jr. had wanted to pursue a career in acting, but after he graduated from Brown, Jackie refused to let him apply to the Yale School of Drama, insisting he study law.
The application and letters are up for auction by Gary Zimet of MomentsInTime.com. Zimet said, “The documents came from the estate of an administrator at Brown.” The piece will sell online for $85,000. Zimet added, “The letters show how involved Jackie was with his education and his tenure at Brown.”
John graduated from Brown in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies. In 1989, he earned a law degree from NYU. It was widely publicized that he passed the bar after his third try in July 1990.
He married Carolyn Bessette in 1996, but they both died in July 1999, along with her sister, in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard. John was 38.