Students selected for MSU summer political leadership program

Contact: Amy Baumer, IPPSR, (517) 388-3887; Brian McGrain, IPPSR, (517) 355-6672; or Gisgie Dávila Gendreau, University Relations, (517) 355-2281

3/30/2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Twenty-nine students from campuses across Michigan were chosen to participate in Michigan State University’s summer leadership program. In its second year, Tomorrow’s Political Leaders (TPL) is a hands-on colloquium on public policy and politics.

The two-week session will run from May 15-27. TPL’s applied curriculum will feature more than 40 presenters, including MSU faculty, state policy-makers and practitioners. Participants will learn how to run for office and what to do once they are elected.

“The 2005 TPL participants bring a mix of political, educational and ethnic backgrounds, with experience at local, state, national and international levels,” said program manager Brian McGrain.

TPL is administered by the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research in MSU’s College of Social Science. It is funded by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

“The momentum we have already gathered in the second year of this program is reaffirming,” said IPPSR Director Douglas B. Roberts. “Public involvement is an important part of a democratic society and this program helps young people to engage just as they are entering the workplace.”

Tomorrow’s Political Leaders is one of three leadership programs run by MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, the nonpartisan public policy network at Michigan State University. Additional information is available at www.ippsr.msu.edu/leadership

[Editor’s Note: For a list of participants and their hometowns, visit www.ippsr.msu.edu/TPL/Participants.htm, or contact Amy Baumer at (517) 388-3887 or baumeram@msu.edu.]