Garth Honored for Distinguished Service

CIC Executive Vice President Russell Garth was honored at a reception on February 5 for 20 years of distinguished service to the Council of Independent Colleges. The reception, held at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency Hotel, was attended by some 150 colleagues, including members of the CIC Board of Directors and dozens of CIC member presidents.

Appointed in 1987, Garth has been responsible for overall program planning and administration of CIC. From 1976 to 1987, he was initially program officer and later deputy director of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education within the U.S. Department of Education. Before that he served as a professional staff member for the California Legislature’s Assembly Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, where he conducted studies and developed legislation on independent higher education, student financial aid, collective bargaining, and alternative forms of education for adults.

The Award for Distinguished Service presented to Garth reads, in part: “Rusty has been instrumental in building the success of the Council’s signature event, the Presidents Institute, and he has helped drive CIC’s expansion of programs and services that accompanied the rapid growth in membership. Rusty’s ingenuity, creativity, and organizational skills have helped shape virtually every CIC project over the last 20 years.”

Garth, father of a son born with fragile X syndrome, also recently received two awards for his advocacy to improve services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Arc of Northern Virginia, a nonprofit organization with which he has long been associated, works to create communities that provide opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through advocacy, education, collaboration, and celebration. The Arc created the “Russell Garth ‘You Are the Change’ Award” to “honor the qualities of an individual or organization that support the spirit of creating advocacy efforts on behalf of people with disabilities that will last more than a lifetime.” Garth was presented with the inaugural award during a ceremony at The Arc’s annual meeting on November 12, 2007. In addition, Garth and his wife, Judi, on March 4, 2008 were honored with a newly created “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Arlington County Department of Human Services to recognize the work they have done over the years on behalf of individuals with disabilities. Judi was the founding coordinator of a parent resource center on disability issues at Arlington County Public Schools; Garth was president of the Arc board; and they were co-chairs of a local advocacy group, Concerned Parents for Arlington Adult Services.

CIC is deeply saddened to report that Garth was diagnosed last September with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Garth has withdrawn from active management of CIC operations due to his illness.

Individuals may write to him at rgarth@cic.nche.edu or 2727 South Quincy, Apt. #1217, Arlington, VA 22206. For those who wish to donate to the ALS Association in his name, checks can be made payable to “The ALS Association” and sent to:

ALS Association - DC/MD/VA Chapter
Attn: Russell Garth (Rusty’s Ramblers)
7507 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855
www.alsa.org

CIC in the News

Two opinion pieces by CIC President Richard Ekman were published in the October and December issues of University Business magazine, titled respectively “Not Business as Usual,” which describes efforts by colleges and universities to tie together business and liberal arts studies and “Creating Campus Appeal,” which provides an update on CIC’s Historic Campus Architecture Project. This latter project was also featured in the January 6, 2008, edition of The New York Times Education Life section. In addition, CIC’s 2008 Presidents Institute in January received substantial coverage of several sessions and speakers by the Chronicle of Higher Education and InsideHigherEd.com. The Chronicle also published a letter to the editor from CIC in October that challenged assertions made in an article about the Spellings Commission’s report.

Staff News and Notes

The most recent addition to CIC’s staff roster is Rebekah Klabunde, who was appointed program coordinator for the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program in fall 2007. A recent graduate of Hollins University (VA), where she majored in English, Klabunde worked for six seasons as a customer service representative at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In addition, while at the Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York, she wrote press releases and prepared catalogues, managed sales and client databases, and worked in various other aspects of administration.

Senior Vice President Harold V. Hartley III was selected to serve a three-year term on the Advisory Committee of the Center for Policy Analysis of the American Council on Education.

Congratulations are due to several CIC staff members who were recently promoted. In recognition of their widening range of responsibilities, Barbara Hetrick and Harold Hartley were named senior vice presidents and August Adams was promoted to director of web communications.