UTAH COUNTY EDUCATOR ANNOUNCES FOR STATE LEGISLATURE

February 15, 2010
Contact: Don Jarvis
801-318-6274 or 801-377-6133

Don Jarvis announced today that he will run again for election to the Utah Legislature in House District 63 (East Provo) as a "very conservative Democrat."

He said that he wants his children and grandchildren to live in a state where education is excellent, ethics are honored, and families don't have to struggle to keep the wolf from the door.

Jarvis's campaign will emphasize what he calls "real Utah values," focusing on economy, education, and ethics.

He ran for the same seat in 2008, providing the first challenge in eight years to incumbent Steven D. Clark, a neighbor and friend.

Jarvis said that he didn't win, but his campaign encouraged Clark get out and campaign for the first time in his career. "That shows the value of the two-party system," Jarvis asserted.

A member and a director of the Provo Rotary Club, he also volunteers as a supervisor for Provo School District's adult English as a second language program. His family has supported the Provo Food & Shelter Coalition for over twenty-five years.

Jarvis was executive director of the Utah County Democratic Party in 2009 and now heads signature gathering in Utah County for the initiative of Utahns for Ethical Government. He noted that he is working with over 100 volunteers to gather signatures for UEG.

He has served three missions for his church, one as mission president in Moscow, Russia, and has filled many other church assignments from bishop to home teacher.

Jarvis retired in 2004 from BYU after serving there as a professor, chair of the Germanic and Slavic Languages Department, founding director of the Faculty Center at BYU, dean of General Education, and founding director of the Foreign Language Residence.

He and his wife Janelle have six children and twenty-three grandchildren, fourteen of whom live in Provo.