Charles Nailen/The Hoya Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and Former President Bill Clinton speak in Healy Saturday.

Former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) and Former Senate ajority Leader Bob Dole announced a scholarship fund campaign at Georgetown University for the children and spouses of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Saturday.

The long-time political rivals, who ran against each other in the 1996 presidential election, said they hope to raise a minimum of $100 million for the “Families of Freedom Fund,” which will distribute educational assistance for use at all post-secondary institutions.

“There’s not any politics or partisanship in an effort like this,” Dole said. “We’re both Americans. We both love our countries.”

Founded by the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America and the Lumina Foundation for Education, Clinton and Dole were asked to spearhead the effort in hopes of lending credibility to the fund and gathering momentum for donations.

“There’s no greater long-term need than the children of the tragedy,” Clinton said. “I have stood in line at the crisis center and talked to victims’ families. And some of the people who will benefit from this have not even been born yet . the gift will be giving for quite a long while.”

TMP Worldwide, a recruitment advertisement agency, announced a $1 million contribution to the fund and have set up toll-free number that individuals can use to make donations.

Harvard University has pledged $1 million to the fund and has said it will join efforts with the American Council on Education. According to Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille, Georgetown has not yet made a donation, but said the university has supported the announcement by providing the “venue, space and support for it to take place.”

“The children and spouses of firefighters and police officers, flight crews and passengers, World Trade Center and Pentagon workers – all of the victims of the attack – have lost so much,” Dole said. “We hope that this scholarship fund will help erase some of their doubts and fears about their future.”

Under the scholarship program, individual educational assistance will be determined based on funds available, and depending on total funding available, scholarships may be renewable for up to three years of undergraduate study. Because administrative costs will be paid from a portion of interest earnings from the fund, sponsors said 100 percent of all contributions will go directly to aid students.

Following a press conference held in the President’s Room of Healy Hall, Clinton and Dole taped public service announcements in Riggs Library to air on television and radio.

Members of Campaign Georgetown and work-study students from the Office of Communications also staffed the event site.