On Feb. 4, Moravian’s president, Bryon Grigsby, met with PA congressional representatives, including Senators John Fetterman and Dave McCormick and PA 7th District Representative Ryan Mackenzie, to discuss the role of higher education in a changing world. The Comenian reached out to Grigsby to get his perspective on the importance of these discussions and how higher education can move forward amidst trying times.
What were your biggest takeaways from your trip to Washington D.C.?
It was great to be able to meet with our elected representatives. At our annual meeting of the National Association of Independent Universities (NAICU), we learned a great deal about how to navigate issues with ICE and other federal agencies and what NAICU needs from us to protect PELL and Federal Student Aid.
We also spoke to representatives about the importance of independent higher education and how diverse all of our missions are in this sector, particularly as the federal government and the general public want to see us as being all like the Ivy League.
What did you discuss with Senator Fetterman and Congressman Mackenzie?
With both our constituents, we discussed the importance of independent universities and explained that about 50% of PELL students and students from marginalized populations attend independent universities in the Commonwealth. This fact surprised them because they incorrectly believe that economically-challenged students go to state universities exclusively. We also talked about the number of jobs that our sector provides to the local economy and how we are the lifeblood of so many small towns throughout Pennsylvania.
Finally, I talked specifically about Moravian as the second oldest university in Pennsylvania, the 26th UNESCO World Heritage Site, and third Site in PA and Moravian’s commitment to first-generation college students, particularly as the home of the only honor society for first-generation college students.
They were generally surprised to learn this information, and I have invited them to campus for the tour of our UNESCO Heritage Site and the campus.
Did you meet with anyone else of interest?
The days were pretty packed with conference sessions and then meeting with our representatives. The Landmark Conference also occurs during this time, so my final day was spent with our Conference members and meeting with Charlie Baker, the President of the NCAA.
Is there anything else you would like to add that would be of interest to the Moravian Community?
I think these are going to be trying times as we navigate this new administration. Higher education, like many of our other institutions in the country, appears by others from the outside to be broken. It is far from broken. It is our responsibility to explain and demonstrate the ways that we provide a universal good for society and how we have done so while keeping costs in check. We need to demonstrate our ongoing relevance to society.
We do a very good job of this at Moravian; we just need to better tell our story as opposed to the narrative currently being created by people outside of higher education.
