National Summit to Mobilize Support for U.S. Public Service Academy Initiative
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, April 22, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation of Seattle and the U.S. Public Service Academy will co-sponsor a National Summit to mobilize support for an initiative to build a civilian counterpart to the military service academies. Hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Summit will feature dozens of Academy supporters from the military, government, philanthropy, and higher education. It will be held from 9:00am until 4:30pm.
The brainchild of two Teach for America/AmeriCorps alumni, the Public Service Academy would be a four-year national college modeled on the military service academies. More than 5,000 students would get a federally-subsidized undergraduate in exchange for a commitment to serve for five years in public service positions following graduation. “The Academy will help transform the way young Americans perceive, prepare for, and pursue public service,” said Chris Myers Asch, a leader of the Academy initiative. “It will reinvigorate our sense of public service and revitalize our public sector.”
The initiative has earned bipartisan support in Congress. The Public Service Academy Act was introduced in March 2007 by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) in the Senate and Rep. James Moran (D-VA) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) in the House of Representatives. The bill currently has 19 Senate co-sponsors and 94 House co-sponsors. It also has won the endorsement of numerous organizations, including City Year, the National Peace Corps Association, and the U.S. Student Association, as well as prominent individuals such as Madeleine Albright, Lee Hamilton, and three former superintendents of West Point.
The National Summit will feature speakers, including:
• Cheryl Dorsey: President, Echoing Green Foundation
• Wilson Goode: former Mayor, City of Philadelphia
• Patricia McGinnis: Executive Director, Council for Excellence in Government
• Dave Palmer: former Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy
For more information contact:
Chris Myers Asch
asch@uspublicserviceacademy.org
662-207-4744
http://www.uspublicserviceacademy.org
1 Comment
April 21, 2008 at 10:54 am
[...] Full text of the National Summit press release [...]