MARK WARNER TO RECEIVE ANNUAL LEADERSHIP AWARD AT HARVARD COLLEGE DEMOCRATS GALA BANQUET

Saturday, 11 March 2006

Cambridge, MA – The Harvard College Democrats are pleased to announce that former Virginia Governor Mark Warner J.D. ‘80 is to receive the group’s annual “Leadership Award” at a gala banquet in Warner’s honor Thursday, April 6, 2006 at 7:00pm in the Kirkland Dining Hall. Gov. Warner met briefly with the Harvard College Democrats in November 2005. Attendance was so high at that event security officials had to lock the doors to prevent a fire hazard. We are pleased to welcome Gov. Warner back to Harvard!

Warner, a former Chair of the National Governor’s Association, served as Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006. Warner was consistently viewed as one of the most popular and successful Governors in the country, with approval ratings over 80 percent despite the state’s heavily Republican leanings. Warner’s successful effort to fix Virginia’s structural budget problems led GOVERNING Magazine to name him one of its “Public Officials of the Year” in 2004. And earlier this year, Virginia was the only state in the nation to earn straight A’s in fiscal management by teams of experts and academics assembled by the Pew Charitable Trust and GOVERNING magazine.

The Harvard College Democrats Leadership Award is presented annually to a Democratic politician whose accomplishments have garnered national attention and embodies what we hope to be the future of the Democratic Party. Last year’s recipient was Alabama Representative Artur Davis ’90, J.D. ’93.