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Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich Addresses Mississippi College Scholarship Dinner


Newt Gingrich

An American political luminary for decades, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich will serve as the keynote speaker at Mississippi College’s 2015 scholarship dinner.

A CNN Contributor and author of 24 books, Gingrich will address the April 7 program on the Clinton campus.

Prior to his evening address, Gingrich is expected to speak to Mississippi College students, sign a few books and meet with reporters at a news conference. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. in Anderson Hall.

First elected to Congress in 1978, Gingrich represented his North Georgia district with distinction for two decades. “Time” magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1995, the Georgian was elected Speaker of the House that year after orchestrating the “Republican Revolution” on Capitol Hill.

Gingrich not only led the GOP takeover of Congress for the first time since the early 1950s, he became one of the primary authors of the legislative “Contract with America.”

Mississippi College leaders welcome Gingrich’s visit and believe Gingrich will provide his audience with a good deal of political food for thought with the USA’s 2016 presidential elections fast approaching.

“Newt Gingrich is a giant in U.S. political history and an icon of American conservatism,” says Mississippi College political science professor Glenn Antizzo. “During his tenure as Speaker of the House, Gingrich’s power and influence eclipsed that of the president himself.”

Despite partisan differences, Gingrich worked well with former Democratic President Bill Clinton to reform the nation’s welfare system, cut the capital gains tax, and balance the federal budget, Antizzo noted.

In 2011-2012, Gingrich made an unsuccessful run for the White House, with the GOP leader winning primary battles in South Carolina and Georgia as he plugged his $2.50 per gallon energy policies.

Gingrich joins an all-star lineup of scholarship dinner speakers at the 5,000-student Baptist-affiliated university in Clinton. Previous speakers have included Dr. Benjamin Carson, a premier physician and successful author, in 2014, while Florida Gov. Jeb Bush headlined the event in 2013.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now a Stanford University professor, spoke at Mississippi College’s scholarship banquet in 2012. The university’s signature events have generated more than $2 million for MC student scholarships since former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole kicked off the series in 2008.

Gingrich remains fascinated by history and the fast-changing political landscape across North America and around the world. The Pennsylvania native received his bachelor’s degree at Emory University in Atlanta and a master’s and doctorate in modern European history at Tulane University in New Orleans.

His writing skills are extraordinary. Fourteen of his two dozen fiction and non-fiction books appeared on “The New York Times” best-seller lists.

The astute political commentator has served as a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. and as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.

Speaker Gingrich has a big heart for good causes. He’s helped raise millions of dollars for charities, including Habitat for Humanity, Celebral Palsy, the American Cancer Society and Zoo Atlanta.

Gingrich and his wife, Callista, both host and produce historical and public policy documentaries. The couple lives in McLean, Virginia.

For more details about Mississippi College’s Spring 2015 Scholarship Dinner and ticket information, contact Amy Rowan of the MC Advancement Office at 601-925-3257 or rowan@mc.edu.