Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Visits GW to Mark DHS Anniversary

WASHINGTON—Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge chose The George Washington University as the place to mark the first anniversary of the founding of the Department of Homeland Security. In a February 23rd speech to a packed Jack Morton Auditorium, Secretary Ridge outlined future goals for the agency, including enhanced inspections at ports, continued vigilance of the student visa process, and a plan to make technology and communications protocols more standardized between emergency response agencies.

“Over the course of the next calendar year, we will be giving these goals everything we have,” said Secretary Ridge. The Secretary added, “A year from now, I invite you to come back, grade us and see if performance met the goals.”

The Department of Homeland Security began operating a year ago following the consolidation of 22 separate agencies. DHS now employs more than 180,000 people to strengthen borders, provide intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, improve the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and deliver comprehensive response and recovery.

GW Provost and Vice-President for Health Affairs John F. Williams, MD, EdD, MPH, spoke on the importance of the event, “We are pleased that Secretary Ridge chose GW to celebrate the Department’s one-year anniversary.” Provost Williams added, “The GW Homeland Security Policy Institute was an ideal host for this event and this is one of many ways GW contributes to the nation’s homeland security efforts.”

The event was sponsored by GW’s newly created Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI), which draws on the expertise of GW and its partners from the academic, non-profit, policy and private sectors with a common goal of better preparing the nation for the threat of terrorism. GW Associate Vice President for Homeland Security Frank Cilluffo serves as director of the HSPI.

“GW shares the Department’s vision that we must enlist the nation’s best and brightest to address today’s homeland security challenges, while simultaneously educating the next generation for the war on terrorism,” said Mr. Cilluffo. He added, “Many of the faculty with expertise in homeland security, and the students they educate, participated in this watershed event, as well as in our many efforts to help the Department marshal and mobilize the vast resources of the nation.”

This HSPI-sponsored event follows a January off-the-record roundtable co-hosted by Provost Williams and Law School Dean Michael Young. Future homeland security briefings, roundtables and conferences will be listed on the HSPI website, http://homelandsecurity.gwu.edu/.

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Posted: February 24, 2004