Shepard to join other presidents at town hall meeting tonight

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard will join the presidents of the other five public universities in Washington state at a town hall meeting set for 7 p.m. today, Feb. 1, in Seattle. The presidents will discuss the risks of continued cuts to higher education. The conversation, which will be held at Town Hall at 1119 Eighth Ave., is open to the public and will include key business leaders. It will be moderated by Seattle Times Editorial Page Editor Kate Riley and Times business columnist Jon Talton.

The forum is an extension of The Greater good Campaign, a year-long public service campaign launched by The Seattle Times this past September. The campaign’s objective is to reinforce the broad positive contributions of Washington state’s higher-education system on Washington’s job creation and quality of life.

In addition to Shepard, panelists at the forum include presidents Michael Young (UW), Elson Floyd (WSU), Les Purce (The Evergreen State College), James Gaudino (Central Washington University) and Rodolfo Arévalo (Eastern Washington University). Corporate leaders Sally Jewell (President and CEO, REI), Brad Smith (General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Microsoft) and Laura Peterson (Vice President for NW State & Local Government Operations, The Boeing Company) also will attend.

Tickets are $5 and are available through Brown Paper Tickets or (800) 838-3006, and at the door beginning at 6 p.m. Full ticket proceeds will be donated to the College Success Foundation scholarship fund.

“High quality public education – including at the university level – is essential in a free and economically viable society. It is essential if Washington state is to come out of the great recession as one of the winners. Our hope, in building strong public awareness of the broader public good of our higher-ed system, is that citizens will actively engage in advocating for stable higher-education funding as among the highest state budget priorities,” said Frank Blethen, Publisher of The Seattle Times. “State disinvestment in our universities is eroding job creation and damaging our economy. At the University of Washington alone, every dollar invested creates $22 in economic activity and $1.48 in tax revenue.”

For more information and tickets, please visit http://townhallseattle.org/six-presidents.