Professor Michael Hricik Wins 2024 National James Davenport Award

YOUNGWOOD, PA – Westmoreland County Community College Professor of English, Michael Hricik of Mt. Pleasant, recently received the James Davenport Award from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Association for his union advocacy on local and state levels.

The award is based on criteria such as providing leadership in higher education; promoting, designing, and coordinating programs that enhance the relationship between higher education and the community; improving relations and understanding among higher education groups; developing and promoting legislation impacting higher education; and contributing to the NCHE mission, goals and advocacy.

A faculty member at Westmoreland since 1992, Hricik has been involved on many levels in the college’s Professional Association, serving in various capacities including teacher welfare chair, vice president and president, a position that he currently holds.

His passion for higher education advocacy extends beyond the college as he serves as the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) president representing college and university professors through the Pennsylvania Association of Higher Education (PAHE). Additionally, Hricik is also a representative for the PSEA Southwestern Region.

Despite being self-described as a low-key person with a mild-mannered style, he says that he wakes up every day ready to take things on at full speed. He said that he doesn’t ever want people to think that he is not passionate about his work.

“I pride myself on having a very solid relationship with my colleagues and college administration,” Hricik said. “I’ve discovered that being president of our faculty union is pretty much like a marriage. Both sides (administration and faculty) need to succeed and achieve their goals or things simply won’t work well.”

Hricik is the first member from Pennsylvania to win the award and places the Commonwealth in the national spotlight. As part of the award, he was presented with a $1,000 stipend.

“I’ve been trained, mentored and educated by the best state public union in the country,” Hricik concluded. “PSEA does it really well and I’ve benefited both professionally and personally.”