Holy Cross College president Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., is a featured speaker at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day happening February 6-9, in Washington, D.C. He will speak on “Restorative Justice and the Role of Faith.” The press is invited to connect with Holy Cross College about this talk.

According to the NAICU, among the handful of issues with bi-partisan support during the recent past has been an increased interest in prison reform, including the positive role higher education can play in turning lives around. The effort has led to a reversal of the ban on Pell Grants for the incarcerated. Faith-based groups, both conservative and liberal, played an essential role in this policy reform.

He will speak about the Holy Cross College Moreau College Initiative (MCI). MCI is an academic collaboration between Holy Cross College and the University of Notre Dame, in partnership with the Indiana Department of Correction. College students incarcerated at Westville Correctional Facility earn credits towards a Holy Cross College Associate of Arts (AA) degree or Bachelor of Arts (BA) in liberal studies.

During his visit, he will attend a dinner celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Pell Grant program as part of the NAICU 2022 Annual Meeting. At the dinner, he will sit with event co-hosts NAICU President, Barbara Mistick, and Clay Pell, grandson of grant originator Senator Claiborne Pell. It will include segments from the PELL movie telling the story of the Pell Grant founding and honor the millions of students and families who have benefited from the program by highlighting the impact the grant has had on both a current and past Pell Grant recipient. The event will include recorded remarks by Ambassador Susan Rice, who will accept the NAICU Advocacy Award post humorously on behalf of her mother, Lois Dickson Rice, widely regarded as “the mother of Pell Grants.”