MPA student Sincere Valentine explores the lasting impact of his grandfather’s legacy in shaping policy and policing in Connecticut. For much of his childhood, Valentine understood that his grandfather had been a respected public servant doing important work in Bridgeport. But it wasn’t until his teenage years that he began to grasp the scope of that legacy.  As a participant in the Bridgeport Junior Council Program while in high school, Valentine had the opportunity to shadow town council members, attend public meetings and engage with community leaders. During the program’s closing ceremony, his lineage to Penn was mentioned. “Once people found out, it was like everything shifted,” he says. “Person after person came up to me saying, ‘Your grandfather was a great man.’ That was the first time I really realized how much his name meant.”  Still, even then, the full significance of Penn’s impact - and the law bearing his name - had yet to come into focus...

Earlier this week, the University of Connecticut School of Public Policy celebrated a milestone in Fairfield County public service education as the inaugural Stamford cohort of its Executive-Track Master of Public Administration program completed their degrees.  The cohort, which enrolled in Fall 2024 as the first Stamford-based “MPA Fellows” class, was among the 97 students recognized during a May 11 ceremony at Infinity Hall in Hartford.  Stamford now joins Hartford as one of two UConn locations where students can complete the School of Public Policy’s Executive-Track MPA program...

On Monday, May 11, the Class of 2026 gathered at Infinity Hall in downtown Hartford to celebrate the completion of their master’s degrees. 97 students, representing the School’s largest graduating class since 2022, included graduates from the MPA, MPP, and MPA Executive-Track ("MPA Fellows") programs, along with two students who earned the Master of Arts in Survey Research and Data Analysis, a program the School has since retired. The event featured a keynote address from Matt Ritter, Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. Ritter reminded graduates about the importance of in-person dialogue over online communication and emphasized the value of human connection in public service, especially when working across partisan divides.