Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday announced he’s proposing an endowment at Washington College named after late longtime Senate President Thomas “Mike” Miller.
The Miller Director of Civic Engagement, within the college’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, “will oversee programs that utilize history to address contemporary challenges and involve Washington College students in projects that imbue them with a sense of civic responsibility toward their communities, state and nation,” Hogan’s office said in a statement.
That includes internships, fellowships and research projects for Washington College students; collaborations with Maryland nonprofits on history and humanities, and the Chesapeake Heartland Project, a collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to “promote the Chesapeake region as the heartland of African American heritage.”
The endowment would be funded by a $1 million item in Hogan’s proposed budget for fiscal 2023.
“I can think of no better way to honor President Miller’s life and cement his legacy than to fund this directorship dedicated to supporting the very principles to which my good friend committed his historic career in public service,” Hogan said in the statement.
“The programs that this endowment makes possible will instill in future generations the same civic mindedness, appreciation of history, and love for our state that made President Miller a giant in Maryland politics for so many decades.”
Miller, who died in January, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Washington College.
Jack S. Griswold, chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors and a former president of Washington College, said in the statement, “Mike was a great friend to the college and to me personally, and I am overwhelmed that his heritage of leadership and public service will be preserved through this important work, engaging our students with our communities, state, and nation.”