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[Pages S3836-S3837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MORNING BUSINESS
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TRIBUTE TO MIKE MONAGHAN
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 1901, superintendent of Joliet Township
High School J. Stanley Brown and University of Chicago president
William Rainey Harper committed themselves to an historic experiment.
They founded Joliet Junior College, the Nation's first public community
college with six students as the initial enrollment. Brown and Harper
designed the school for students who wanted to remain in the community,
but also wanted to pursue a college education.
The community college system is vastly different than Harper and
Brown's initial work today. Community colleges are helping millions of
Americans carve a pathway to middle-class prosperity and a chance to
fulfill the American Dream.
Earlier this month, Mike Monaghan, a champion of Illinois community
colleges with more than 40 years of legislative and higher education
experience, retired from the Illinois Community College Trustees
Association. During his time there, he worked hard to make sure
Illinois has some of the finest colleges in the country. Mike will
certainly be missed.
Originally from Springfield, he earned an associate arts degree from
Lincoln Land Community College, a bachelor's degree in political
science from Bradley University, and a master's degree in legal studies
and administrative law from the University of Illinois at Springfield.
I have known Mike for decades from our days as staffers in the
Illinois State Senate. Mike was fighting for improving education in the
State as the principal staff to the State senate's higher education
committee when I was legal counsel to the State senate judiciary
committee. He also was my neighbor, living a block away from me. I
might add Mike also was a precinct captain for a couple of my races,
too.
In 1989, Mike became the Illinois Community College Trustees
Associations director of government relations. In this role, he
developed a statewide advocacy program and regularly organized trips to
Washington, DC, with students. One of his major efforts was the
successful implementation of a State insurance program for community
college retirees. In 1998, the Illinois Society of Association
Executives awarded him with their Government Relations Award for the
program.
Mike's hard work led him to become the ICCTA's executive director in
2005. For the past 14 years, he has continued fighting for resources
for community colleges. He earned the Cook County College Teachers
Union 2008 Innovation in Education Award for his leadership in
promoting community colleges.
When community colleges are not funded properly, the costs fall on
students. When Mike started, some remarked that community colleges were
13th and 14th year schooling and dismissed them as ``Tinker Toy Tech.''
This is certainly not the case today.
Today, 35,000 students are enrolled at Joliet Junior College, and
Illinois has 519,000 students enrolled in community colleges. More and
more students know community colleges are one of the best investments
in education for students and are the best alternative in the
competitive college marketplace.
Americans hold more than $1.4 trillion in student debt, making it the
largest household debt after mortgages. Community colleges, with low
tuition rates and quality educational programs, are a key to breaking
the debt stranglehold of our current higher education system.
[[Page S3837]]
I want to take this time to honor Mike for his hard work in making
Illinois one of the top community college States. The future of William
Rainey Harper and J. Stanley Brown's experiment looks bright because of
Mike's work. We thank him for his service and look forward to his next
chapter in life.
____________________
