Ashbrook Center For Public Affairs

Ashbrook Center For Public Affairs

The Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs is a conservative academic center at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, dedicated by Ronald Reagan on May 9, 1983.

It is named for the late Congressman John M. Ashbrook, an Ohio Republican best known for having run a largely symbolic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, against the incumbent Richard Nixon, to protest what some saw as Nixon's failure to live up to conservative principles such as constitutionally limited government, reducing federal spending, and uncompromising anti-communism. The Center was founded to honor him following his death in 1982 while campaigning for the U.S. Senate against Howard Metzenbaum.

One emphasis of the Center is on promoting the study of American history, government, politics, and constitutional interpretation for young people, teachers, and academic scholars.

In pursuit of this goal, The Ashbrook Center established an Ashbrook Scholars program, which provides scholarships to students at Ashland University who are interested in pursuing a classical liberal arts curriculum. Students who are Ashbrook scholars experience academic seminars where they interact with noted figures in the conservative movement, e.g. Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, among others.

The Center's first Director was F. Clifton White, a well-known Republican political strategist and a key member of the Draft Goldwater movement in 1964. White was forced to step down from the position in 1992 for health reasons and was replaced by local businessman Charles E. Parton. Parton was also forced to leave the post for health reasons in 1997. His successor, Peter W. Schramm, a professor of political science at Ashland University and a former member of the Reagan administration, has served as Executive Director since that time and has been central to the Center's expansion from being primarily a scholarship program and lecture series to its many programs that now include a Masters program in American History and Government and numerous academic seminars annually for middle and high school teachers.