The University of Toledo board of trustees today voted unanimously to approve a new center with a mission retired Juvenile Court Judge Andy Devine crystallized as “trying to get parents to be the center of a child’s life.” The action was the final step to the creation of the Center for Parents.
The center will serve as the catalyst for outreach efforts both locally and nationally to focus on the importance of the role of parents and to provide research developed by UT faculty that would be used to inform decision-makers as they enact policies that affect parents.
“A University program that involves research as well as application is sorely needed,” remarked Toledo Mayor Jack Ford, who was on hand to lend his support.
Ford told the board that this concept has been discussed around the area for some 25 to 30 years, with Devine serving as a “voice in the wilderness.”
“I don’t think I should be identified as a father [of this center],” quipped the judge. “But rather as a mother that has been through 10 years of pregnancy.”
Devine told the board that he hopes the center will serve as a “guiding light” nationally.
“Somehow in the last 30 to 40 years we have not looked to parents to help solve these problems,” said Devine.
Ohio First Lady Hope Taft, who was unable to attend today’s meeting, has also been an avid supporter of the Center for Parents.
