Boys, Reynolds among college presidents heading to Washington conference

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will host his sixth annual college and university presidents conference in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, April 16 with more than 30 presidents from colleges and universities across Ohio, including seven from southwest Ohio.

Presidents attending include Dr. Kevin Boys from Southern State Community College, and Dr. Jim Reynolds from Wilmington College.

Also attending are presidents from Wright State University, Central State University, University of Cincinnati, Union Institute & University, and Edison Community College.

Brown’s forum – the first of its kind for College Presidents in Ohio – brings together leaders at two two-year, four-year, private, public, and community colleges to discuss shared challenges and goals for students and institutions of higher learning.

Brown has invited several special guests to address this year’s forum, including United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki; U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) – the Chairman and Ranking Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; College Now Greater Cleveland CEO Lee Friedman; and members of Ohio’s congressional delegation, including Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH).

"This conference is actually the only time in the calendar year in which all of Ohio's college and university presidents, both public and private, are invited to participate," SSCC President Dr. Kevin Boys said.

"This is particularly a good opportunity to collectively express concerns that we all share and to hear from top officials from the highest levels of government. I especially appreciate the bipartisan aspect of this meeting. It will be my honor to introduce Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who will be addressing the group Tuesday afternoon."

This year’s conference will focus on the challenges affecting non-traditional students in higher education.

Discussions will be held around the ways that schools can best empower and ensure academic success for various non-traditional students, such as veterans’ returning home from war, parents who decide to go back to school, and those who are seeking higher education to remain competitive in this new economy.

The video feed from the conference will be live-streamed this year on Sen. Brown’s website at the following address: http://brown.senate.gov/newsroom/multimedia/live_streaming/.