( Bluefield)— Tom Ridge, the nation’s first Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will speak at Bluefield State College on March 30. The Shott Lecture Series has arranged for the onetime Pennsylvania Governor and congressional leader to appear at BSC for an 11 a.m. presentation in the Ned E. Shott Gymnasium.
Former Secretary Ridge will bring a message that draws upon his experience of more than four decades of public service. Following the tragic events of 9/11, President Bush asked then-Governor Ridge to come to Washington to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats and attacks in the United States. His first duties included “standing up” the Office of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council. During his tenure, Secretary Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from 22 agencies to create a border-centric agency to further secure the United States. He served as Secretary of this historic and critically important endeavor until February 1, 2005. Before the events of 9/11, Ridge was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania.
He is the fifth Shott Lecture Series speaker. The Lecture Series was started by the Hugh I. Shott, Jr. Foundation in 1988 to bring outstanding speakers on international and national topics to Bluefield State College, Concord University, and Bluefield College, and to the community at large. By bringing nationally and internationally recognized speakers to these local colleges, the Shott Foundation provides extremely valuable and memorable academic and cultural enrichment opportunities to their students and the citizens of this region.
The Hugh I. Shott, Jr. Foundation, Inc. was organized in December 1984, by the late Hugh I. Shott, Jr. with a mission to improve the social and economic quality of life in the trade area of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Mr. Shott’s father, the late H. I. Shott, Sr. purchased the Daily Telegraph in 1893. For more than 100 years, the Daily Telegraph Printing Company has worked to improve Mercer County and the surrounding area and its economic future. The late H. I. Shott, Jr. had stated that he wanted to give back to the people of this area opportunities from the benefits he received by their support of the Daily Telegraph Printing Company. The company owned newspapers, television stations and radio stations. These properties were sold prior to his death and a portion of his estate was used to create the Foundation for those purposes.
The Shott Foundation has made numerous gifts to schools and other community organizations in excess of $25 million to date to accomplish its mission in education, quality of life and other community activities.
March 13, 2006
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