Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., along with a number of university and college presidents from across Virginia, will attend the Virginia Governor’s Higher Education Summit on National Service at the College of William & Mary on Sunday, Oct. 4, and Monday, Oct. 5.
The summit is hosted by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and first lady Dorothy McAuliffe, William & Mary, Shenandoah University, James Madison University, Lord Fairfax Community College and Virginia Military Institute. Attendees will discuss opportunities for students to engage in a year of national service.
Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton, Dorothy McAuliffe and at least 15 college presidents from Virginia institutions will attend.
“At Shenandoah we are committed to preparing our students to be good citizens and good neighbors,” said President Fitzsimmons. “Our university constantly focuses on ethics and compassion, and we encourage all members of our community to make responsible contributions to their community, the nation and the world. I look forward to the important discussions I’ll have with fellow presidents and others at the forefront of national service, and know that this summit will serve as an inspiration to all of us. I am honored that Shenandoah was asked to be one of the co-hosts of the conference.”
During the summit, attendees will hear remarks from Dorothy McAuliffe, W&M President Taylor Reveley, and John Bridgeland, CEO of public policy development firm Civic Enterprises and former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, among others.
A full day of sessions on Monday will include a president’s panel moderated by Holton and a report on the development of the Institute on the Future of National Service in Virginia at JMU. The panel was organized by Karen Schultz, Ph.D., director of Shenandoah University’s Center for Public Service & Scholarship (CPSS). Schultz is a 1975 graduate of W&M and serves on the college’s Board of Visitors.
Van Black, a CPSS board member, will present at the conference and discuss how students and alumni have partnered to do do service through engagement and collaboration with one another. He will address the initiative of “Staying Connected,” which enables current students and alumni to serve others.
The summit was inspired by the Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project, which called for the creation of a year of full-time, national service for young adults. The Franklin Project envisions the year becoming a “cultural expectation, a common opportunity, and a civic rite of passage for every young American,” according to the project’s website.
“Sometime between the ages of 18 and 28, the young person would do a fully paid, full-time year of service in one of an array of areas, including health, poverty, conservation, or education,” the website says. “These young people will not only do good work and solve problems, but they will also become better young Americans.”