Politics

Red State University Center Named After Former Republican Senator Aims To Promote ‘Bipartisan’ Dialogue

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The University of Cincinnati (UC) will establish a center to promote bipartisan dialogue after the Board of Trustees approved the plans during Tuesday’s board meeting, according to its news release.

The Portman Center for Policy Solutions will be housed within the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) will encourage bipartisanship and open, civil discussion about modern policy issues to grow leaders across the political aisle, the news release reads. The Center will provide fellows with scholarships and research opportunities, internships, academic programs focused on delivering a variety of policy perspectives and a seminar series about policy issues.

Former Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the namesake of the center, is helping UC’s Foundation raise funds to boost the Center’s endowment to a minimum of $5 million and will donate Congressional papers that Fellows can use for case studies on finding bipartisan solutions to policy problems, the article reads. Portman called UC the “natural choice” for the Center and that he intends for it to encourage students to “engage in public service that focuses on civility, bipartisanship, and finding common ground.”

I am glad to see the establishment of the Portman Center for Policy Solutions at the University of Cincinnati, where students will learn how to engage in a bipartisan manner to solve our country’s most significant issues. https://t.co/vFfHr6O2ii

— Dave Joyce (@RepDaveJoyce) February 28, 2023

“Too many are understandably turned off by excessive partisanship, gridlock and harsh language in today’s political dialogue,” Portman said. “The Center will highlight specific examples of successful legislative efforts and introduce students to public officials from both parties who have successfully worked across the aisle to achieve results for their constituents. Such collaboration is the only way to find solutions to our nation’s toughest problems.”

The Center won the praise of Republican Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce, who tweeted Tuesday that he is “glad to see the establishment of the Portman Center for Policy Solutions at the University of Cincinnati, where students will learn how to engage in a bipartisan manner to solve our country’s most significant issues.”

The board’s vote followed the SPIA faculty’s unanimous vote to establish the Center earlier this year, the article reads.

“This is an academically oriented Center tied to student success. The critical teaching, learning, research and community discussions housed within the Portman Center will aim to foster trust in democracy,” Richard Harknett, director of the SPIA, reportedly said. “We hope to develop future leaders who are steeped in active citizenship and the essentials of democracy from a bipartisan perspective. Our country needs this center and its mission now more than ever.”

UC, SPIA, the board of trustees, Joyce and Harknett did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Portman could not be contacted.