Another View: Sen. Gregg has Long Been a Champion for Granite State

By Rev. Jonathan Defelice, O.S.B.
President, Saint Anselm College
Published in The Union Leader Sunday News.

May 4, 2004

I write to point to some examples of the effective leadership of a man our state is fortunate to call its senior senator. I feel compelled to do so because of recently published opinions that have been critical of Judd Gregg's record of service.

Throughout his tenure, Sen. Gregg has been a champion of numerous issues affecting the public good: Social Security, education, health care, and the environment, to name a few—all without sacrificing his sound fiscal sense.

Today, I want to focus on what I know best—higher education. Teaching, research, outreach, and affordability come to mind when I consider Sen. Gregg's dedication to our nation's future leaders.

More than 80 percent of Saint Anselm College students receive some type of need-based financial assistance, relying on packages that include scholarships, loans, and grants. Our students are a fraction of the 5.3 million undergraduates nationwide who share close to $12 billion in Pell Grants alone.

Since 1995, Judd Gregg has supported improvements to the Pell Grant program that have led to total funding increases of more than $6.7 billion, an increase of 109 percent.

He has also been a vocal proponent of our nation's federal loan program, for which low interest dollars available to students have more than doubled, from $22 billion to $50 billion over the last decade.

Without question, Sen. Gregg has helped make higher education a legislative priority by malting it more affordable and more accessible.

Meanwhile, his entrepreneurial spirit and civic sensibility have been keys to securing millions of dollars that advance leading-edge research. New discoveries in technology, the environment, medicine, and space science, for example, have propelled New Hampshire's institutions of higher learning to positions among the best in the nation.

In fact, part of the role of a United States senator is to identify and deliver appropriate resources on behalf of his or her constituents. At Saint Anselm College, Sen. Gregg has been instrumental in directing generous support to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics—a resource for the state and nation, and a forum for non-partisan discourse, public lectures, and new initiatives in civic education. For his steadfast support and visionary leadership, we were proud to award an honorary degree to Sen. Gregg in September 2001.

Likewise, I applaud the University of New Hampshire for recognizing the senator's contributions by naming a building in his honor this spring. Critics say it's political pandering. It's not pandering at all. It's recognizing that New Hampshire's senior senator takes his obligations as a public servant seriously.

The names on the buildings at Saint Anselm College and the University of New Hampshire provide enduring tributes to men and women whose personal and moral convictions include the belief that they can and should work to enhance higher education in the state. I hope for a future filled with dedication ceremonies and reasons to celebrate new and enhanced educational resources in New Hampshire.

And I sincerely hope that in some distant time when his work is concluded, Judd Gregg's track record will become a benchmark for those public servants who follow him.