Representative Ralph Regula to Receive 2008 NAICU Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education

February 01, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2008

CONTACT: Libby May, libby@naicu.edu
office: 202-739-0477 cell: 301-529-7313

Tony Pals, tony@naicu.edu
office: 202-739-0474 cell: 202-288-9333

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 1-Representative Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, has been selected by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) to receive its 2008 Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education. The award will be presented by NAICU President David L. Warren during a luncheon that begins at 12:00 p.m. at Tuesday, February 5, at the NAICU annual meeting. The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

The NAICU Advocacy Award was established in 1993 to recognize individuals outside of academe who have championed the cause of independent nonprofit higher education. No single contribution makes one eligible to receive the award. Instead, it recognizes a lifetime of service, initiative, and determination.

Currently serving in his 18th term, representing the 16th District of Ohio, Representative Regula has spent his career as an advocate of increased funding for education, health research, job training, and assistance for families with special education and health needs. One of his highest priorities has been to ensure that low-income students have access to a college education.

"Having served as a teacher, principal, member of the Ohio Board of Education, and trustee of his alma mater, Mount Union College, Representative Regula knows first hand the importance of education to the people of Ohio and the nation "said NAICU President David L. Warren. "In Congress, his position on the House Appropriations Committee has allowed him to further serve the educational needs of his constituents and students across the country by steadfastly supporting increased funding for the student aid programs."

During his 2000-2006 tenure as chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, Rep. Regula defied demands from his party's leadership to deeply cut education programs. Instead, he increased the Pell Grant maximum by $750 over a six-year period. His regular meetings with Ohio college presidents and students reaffirmed and reinforced his position, despite the intense pressure to reduce student aid funding.


NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education. With nearly 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States. NAICU members enroll 85 percent of all students attending private institutions. They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, art institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.


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