By Joan C. McKinney, director of university communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. –The second in a series of gubernatorial candidate forums at Campbellsville University will feature Jonathan Miller, state treasurer, at 4 p.m. Monday, March 5 at The Gheens Recital Hall in the Gosser Fine Arts Center.
The sessions are sponsored by CU’s Kentucky Heartland Institute for Public Policy (KHIPP) and Team Taylor County.
John Chowning, vice president for church and external relations at CU and executive assistant to the president who is the founder of KHIPP, said all of the major candidates have been asked to participate in the forums.
The event, as well as all that will follow, are open to the public.
Chowning said each of the candidates will also be featured on his TV-4 television show, “Dialogue on Public Issues,” which is shown on Monday and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
The Miller interview will be aired on Comcast Cable 10 on Monday, March 12 at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“We at Campbellsville University and at Team Taylor County are honored to be able to host these gubernatorial forums,” said Chowning. “Our goal is to allow the public to listen to the major candidates, hear their goals and platforms, and then make educated judgments on who to vote for in May. We also deeply appreciate the financial support of our local banks who are helping underwrite the costs of the series of candidate forums.”
Chowning said that six other candidates have already committed to dates over the next several weeks.
“We invite everyone to come hear these candidates and to watch the show on our TV-4,” said Chowning.
For more information on the events, contact Chowning at (270) 789-5520 or at jechowning@campbellsville.edu.
From information given for publication, Miller, 38, is a native of Lexington and a graduate of Henry Clay High School and Harvard College and Law School. First elected in November 1999, he is in his second term as Kentucky State Treasurer.
Miller’s initial bid for treasurer was built around a premise: to bring to Kentucky a pre-paid college tuition savings program to help make it easier for parents to afford a college education for their children.
Prepaid tuition legislation was passed by the General Assembly unanimously in March 2000. Kentucky’s Affordable Prepaid Tuition, or KAPT, has become one of the most successful state government programs with nearly 9,000 families having realized the dream of affordable higher education for their children and grandchildren.
From this work has come a wide variety of programs and initiatives including:
- A joint initiative with the state’s public schools and state colleges to educate teenagers about credit card abuse and to prohibit aggressive marketing of credit cards on campus;
- Legislation which has cracked down on predatory lending practices against the elderly and the poor;
- Women and Money seminars across the state that provide free financial education and training to Kentucky women and girls;
- Development of Marriage and Money curricula to empower religious leaders and marriage counselors with financial education training.
Creation of the Military Families’ Bill of Rights, an initiative which has already led to the introduction of legislation intended to ease the financial burdens of military families as they face the challenges of deployment in the war on terror.
Miller and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Emily and Abigail. He is a Sunday school teacher, a girls’ Pee Wee softball coach; and plays guitar and sings country music.
Campbellsville University, now celebrating her Centennial year, is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,310 students who represent 100 Kentucky counties, 32 states and 28 foreign nations. Listed in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” 14 consecutive years as one of the leading Southern master’s colleges and universities, Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his eighth year as president.