Critics and reformers of higher education often complain that they can’t get politicians to pay attention to the college campus. Politicians don’t want to mess in academic matters (except regarding access and cost), they consider the campuses in their districts as economic engines, and they think back on their own college days with nostalgia.

Here’s a candidate for Congress in Colorado, though, who’s been at the center of academic debates over curriculum and ideology for many years. His name is Tom Lucero, and he’s been a regent in the University of Colorado for two terms. Among his accomplishments are “ten years volunteer service on the Board of Regents advocating for fiscal responsibility, standards and accountability, and expanding the teaching of American history, values and texts.”

He has also played a lead role in the establishment of the Center for Western Civilization, which, he notes, “took six years to establish and will begin taking students in Fall 2009.”