The SFA student body president has kicked off a "local movement" to inform Nacogdoches residents about the United States Public Service Academy, a proposed undergraduate institution designed to develop "civilian leaders."
Kent Willis, SFA graduate student, said he is in full support of the academy, because it will get more people involved in public service careers.
"There's federal legislation in both the House and the Senate supporting the idea of the United State Public Service Academy," Willis said. "Over time, there's been a deterioration of faith in public service. But this is an effort and a way to get people energized and more focused on going into those kinds of careers."
The proposed academy was designed by two Teach for America alumni, Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond, after they were sent to Sunflower County, Miss., as teachers, according to the United States Public Service Academy Web site.
The mission of the proposed academy is to "educate, develop, and inspire civilian leaders who have the character, intellect, and experience necessary to serve the nation honorably and effectively, and who are committed to devoting their lives to public service," the Web site said.
The proposed academy — which is modeled after military academies — will be a four-year undergraduate institution, the Web site said. In exchange for a free education, students will have to commit five years serving in public service careers upon graduation.
"They want to send people to areas where there's a high need for certain professions and they can't get people to go there," Willis said. "(For example,) it could be a Spanish teacher needed in an East Texas town where they can't attract anybody to come, or, if a cop is needed in a high-crime area. This is a program created to get more people into public service on the ground level."
Willis said he learned about the academy through a student leader at a university in Florida.
"We talked back and forth during my first term as student body president and talked about a lot of different ways that the federal government was doing good things to help the people," he said. "... He said 'one thing that you might get involved with and try to promote in the state of Texas and definitely in East Texas is the United States Public Service Academy...'."
Since then, Willis said he has attended a conference in Washington D.C. where he learned more about the academy.
"I got to meet up with a lot of different people and get educated about it so I could bring it home and present it more effectively to people and have solid answers and reasoning as to why this is a really good thing," he said. "It's just so important now, than ever before, because we are at a critical time in not only our state and our nation, but in our communities. We need people to go into public service.
"The jobs that are dwindling and the ones people aren't interested in are in the arena of public service. The nurses, the teachers the police officers... those are the careers that are most critical in the state of Texas."
Although Willis said his first priority is to support SFA, he said he is also passionate about supporting the academy.
"I'm very proud of SFA," he said. "I'm prouder than ever before. But this is something that I definitely do support. It's another institution, but it's great because we'll get students in our region who are interested in public service and they might get that interest through this whole movement for the United States Public Service Academy."
Willis said SFA has always trained students to go into public service careers.
"We create the teachers, we create the nurses, we create the police officers," he said. "We are a school that's doing what this national movement will do. And I think we should join the movement, because it's important."
Willis said information about the academy has been presented to other SFA student body officers, and it will be presented to the full Student Government Association when the organization reconvenes during the fall semester.
"We're getting together a local movement, and I would like to use our student government as a group to first endorse the idea and then present it to a lot of other people here in East Texas," he said. "Through student government, we want to connect it to our local leaders and get their endorsement for the idea."
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) endorsed the academy and became a co-sponsor for the legislation in 2007, according to Hutchinson's Web site.
"A public service academy would provide new higher education opportunities for those with the honorable desire to serve their country," Hutchinson said. "Training a new generation of leaders will benefit the nation by developing more candidates to fill the current void in qualified public servants."
Willis said he also wants to get Nacogdoches leaders involved.
"We need our police chief, we need our fire chief, we need the president of SFA, we need high school teachers and principals to research the idea and give their endorsement," he said.
Nacogdoches community members can contact the SFA Student Government Association for more information about the academy, Willis said.
"It's always easy for people to look at our national government and find a lot of problems and things that we are not happy with," he said. "But I think this is something that the public can be pleased with. This is the type of federal movement that can trickle down to our local communities and help us all."
For more information about the United States Public Service Academy, visit www.uspublicserviceacademy.org.
For more information about the SFA Student Government Association call 468-3500.
