MSU awards 2006 fellowships to 24 public service leaders; former national party chairs to speak at March events Contact: Barbara Knuth or Amy J. Baumer, Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, (517) 353-1731, baumeram@msu.edu; or Geoff Koch, University Relations, (517) 432-0924, kochg@msu.edu
2/10/2006
[Editor’s note: For a list of fellows and their hometowns, visit http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/MPLP/CurrentFellows.htm]
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Twenty-four individuals have been awarded the Michigan State University 2006 Michigan Political Leadership Program fellowship – a 10-month program valued at $12,000 that incorporates personal leadership development, public policy process and analysis, effective governance and practical politics.
“We’re excited about the bright, talented group of future leaders who will be participating in the 2006 program,” said program co-director James G. Agee.
Besides representing various fields of political leadership and professional backgrounds – ranging from a retired U.S. Marine to a pastor to a Spanish immersion teacher – the fellows represent a wide spectrum of political viewpoints.
“Narrowing the field of candidates becomes more challenging each year,” said program co-director Anne Mervenne. “This year’s selection process included over 100 candidates from across the state.”
Two upcoming program fund-raising events are expected to draw some of the year’s largest multi-partisan crowds of any event in the state. Top political commentators and former party chairs Terry McAuliffe and Ed Gillespie will be the featured speakers March 2-3, as follows:
- MPLP 11th Annual Fund-raising Dinner, 5-8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at the Laurel Manor in Livonia
- MPLP 4th Annual West Michigan Breakfast, 7:30-9:30 a.m. Friday, March 3, at Noto’s Old World Italian Dining in Grand Rapids
The pair will provide commentary on current state and national political issues, covering both sides of the political aisle. Gillespie served as chair of the Republican National Committee for the 2004 election cycle. He was the first RNC chair in 80 years to preside over the re-election of a Republican president while retaining Republican majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate. McAuliffe served as chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005. He is widely credited with rebuilding, re-energizing and revitalizing the party, using state-of-the-art technology to connect grassroots activists with the party’s new information infrastructure.
Tickets, at $125 ($100 of which is tax deductible), and sponsorships at all levels are available by contacting MPLP at (517) 353-0891, or by visiting http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/MPLP.
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The Michigan Political Leadership Program is one of only a handful of nonpartisan programs of its kind in the nation. The program is administered by the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research in MSU’s College of Social Science.
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