Our History

History of Youth and Government Programming

History of Michigan Youth in Government

• 1946: YMCA MYIG begins, originally called the Hi-Y. Only men were invited. Brue Tallman was the first Executive Director.
• 1947 & 1948: The program did not run these years.
• 1949: The conference became co-ed, including the gentlemen of the Hi-Y and the ladies of the Tri-Hi-Y. The program was run out of the downtown Lansing State YMCA office. John Less became the new Executive Director until 1956. This is the year we now officially document as our origin.
• 1957: Roger Blood became the Executive Director until 1964.
• 1965: Jack Cole became the Executive Director until 1969.
• 1966: Due to a growing program, the conference expanded to have two legislatures, one for upper classmen and one for freshmen.
• 1969: The Press Program Area developed around this time. The first female Youth Governor, Teta Banks of Detroit, was elected.
• 1970: Frank Wieting became the Executive Director until 1976. The program office moved to Mt. Pleasant and the name officially changed from the Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y to Michigan Youth in Government.
• 1972: The conference dates changed from being held in December to being held in April.
• 1975: The Lobbyist Program Area was added.
• 1977: John Wolf became the Executive Director until 1981.
• 1982: Brent Veysey and Gary Male became Co-Executive Directors until 2015. The Governor's Cabinet Program Area and the Model Judiciary Program (MJP) Area were added. The program office also moved to Quincy. The office was originally located in the homes of the Directors, and then was moved to a space above a local dentist office. Eventually it would move to a location on US 12 right outside of Quincy and remained there for several years.
• 1984: The annual Leadership Breakfast began. The MJP Program received the American Bar Association Award of Achievement for the most outstanding project of service to the public.
• 2003: The Middle School Program, taking place in November, began.
• 2016: Lydia Mitchell, an alumna of the program, becomes the first female Executive Director until 2022.
• 2017: The program office moves to Okemos.
• 2020: Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the program goes virtual for the Late High School Conference through the 2021 program year. The program office is disbanded and YMCA MYIG moves to a remote office.
• 2022: Mary Burleson and Jeff Litten, both alumni of the program, become Co-Directors.

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