On this, his 25th Reunion, the Beloit College Alumni Association is pleased to award the Distinguished Service Citation to David Goodfriend, class of 1990. The founder and president of Goodfriend Government Affairs, he has had a meteoric career in the fields of law, politics, and communications-all in a spirit worthy of his name.

Beloit’s alumni magazine referred to David, while he was still an undergraduate, as a “Beloit superstar.” Even then, his accomplishments were many and included an invitation to compete as a Rhodes Scholar. He had a summa cum laude academic transcript, English department honors, and an internship in the district office of U.S. Congressman Les Aspin. After earning his law degree at Georgetown, he easily moved between a career practicing law in the private sector and public service that included being the deputy staff secretary to President William Jefferson Clinton. Later, he became the media legal advisor to the commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. He has advocated for clients in the communications industry, was a co-founder, executive vice president, and general counsel for Air America Radio, and served as vice president of law and public policy at DISH Network. He’s become a go-to political commentator, appearing on MSNBC and CNBC, and creating “Left Jab,” his own weekly satellite radio program on progressive politics.

David Goodfriend is the exemplary answer to the question of what a person can do with an English degree from a college like Beloit. He once explained his choice of majors this way: “I’m a creative writing major because I want to be a better writer,” he said. “Everything in the end is rhetoric.”

Beloit College is fortunate that David Goodfriend is a great friend of ours.