The George Romney Institute for Law and Public Policy will work to weave legal and public policy considerations into the academic fabric of Adrian College. 

Specifically, the Institute will enhance pre-law and graduate opportunities for students, increase opportunities to study legal and policy issues, bring speakers to campus, promote interdisciplinary exploration of law and public policy and explore the opportunities for practitioners and academics to work together on these issues.

The Institute is named for George Romney, former governor of Michigan, presidential candidate and past Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Nixon’s cabinet. He had a special relationship with Adrian College. He visited the campus numerous times. In 1968, he made a stop on his campaign trail to reelection of governor, and spoke to 600 students who gathered on short notice just to hear what he had to say as it was a defining time in our nation’s history.

Romney, who ended up winning reelection in a landslide a short time later, asked those students to “consider doing something valuable for mankind or face the possibility of losing the liberties and values you hold dear.” 

A few years later, Mr. Romney gave the commencement speech to 245 graduates in 1974. During that address, Mr. Romney stated that it was most important to “take our citizenship seriously, that we work for a better, more responsible government."