By David Enrich '01
Ironic but true: One of the most highly regarded student internship programs in Washington, D.C., had a less than auspicious beginning involving midnight plumbing calls and trips to the shoe store. The year was 1972. Then-Assistant Professor of Government Alfred Balitzer was in D.C. for a week, helping transition four students into the inaugural semester of the CMC Washington Program that he co-founded with Alan Heslop, the Don H. & Edessa Rose Professor of State & Local Government. If there was a detectable crackling energy with its launch, there were also a few unexpected responsibilities that christened the professor’s capital project.
Balitzer found himself running the four students around town for shoes, neckties, and other necessities, because all of their worldly belongings had been stolen within minutes of their arrival in Washington. He also rented them an apartment. “That was the wrong thing to do,” he recalls with a chuckle, because next he would receive 6 a.m. phone calls from the landlord regarding clogged plumbing and other residential problems. Balitzer remembers asking himself, “Gee, did I get a Ph.D. for this?”
Occasionally, Balitzer would fly to Washington to hold classes and take the student interns on field trips to Gettysburg and to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s hilltop estate in Charlottesville, Va. “We had grand times,” Balitzer says. “I have fond memories of our expeditions.”
CMC’s Washington Program has come a long way since Balitzer shepherded those four interns through their D.C. odysseys 30 years ago. Assistant Professor of Government and Washington Program Director Elizabeth Spalding, stationed in D.C., administers the program and also serves as faculty, along with two visiting assistant professors of government: James Edwards Jr., a former congressional staffer, and John Haskell, a senior fellow of the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.
Things have changed for students, too: Full-time internships, during which students are immersed in a work environment, are supplemented with two evening classes and a directed research project, providing the semester’s intellectual framework.
“The Washington Program has grown out of CMC’s mission to educate future leaders in both theoretical and practical ways,” says Spalding. “Some of our most prominent alumni, such as Congressman David Dreier ’75 and Leonard Apcar ’75, editor-in-chief of The New York Times’ digital division, are evidence of the program’s long-term success.”
Today, nearly 700 students from The Claremont Colleges have participated in the program. They have interned for representatives, senators, and congressional committees; political parties and campaigns; the White House, Justice Department, and other federal agencies; foreign embassies; think-tanks, interest groups, law firms, and trade associations; and C-SPAN, Congressional Quarterly, and other media outlets.
Most students participate in the program as second-semester sophomores or juniors, after they’ve taken CMC’s introductory and mid-level coursework in government and politics. After absorbing that information on campus, they put it to the test in real-life applications during internships in politics, economics, and government, seeing how the academic world and the real world work together.
“There is a distinct benefit to having a full-time internship,” Spalding says. “If the students are doing their jobs right, the employers forget they’re college students and consider them regular staff members. We see this happen time and time again.”
Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates, a prominent Washington lobbying firm, confirmed Spalding’s theory in hiring Laura Vartain ’02, the firm’s first CMC intern, after she graduated.
“The fact that the Claremont students are here full-time allows them to get into a better rhythm with the office,” says Peter Holran, Wexler and Walker’s deputy general manager. “We’re very impressed with the program.”
On Sept. 10, 2001, Alexis Orton ’03 started an internship at the State Department, a little worried that her job might be a bore. “Many people thought I’d be stuck doing something with not much responsibility because it’s such a huge organization,” she recalled.
On Sept. 11, though, everything changed. Starved for employees with computer skills, the State Department handed the tech-savvy Orton real responsibilities: working as part of the operations center task force, she prepared political and military briefing documents for President Bush, Secretary Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
“I was doing something really important,” Orton says. “That made me feel the best I ever had in my entire life.” It didn’t hurt that the State Department also flew her to military conferences in Germany and on the French Riviera.
Just blocks away, Andy Brehm ’03 spent fall 2001 in the White House media office. He produced talking points for White House spokespersons; attended press conferences and speeches; fielded questions from, and got coffee for, White House reporters; enjoyed face-time with Press Secretary Ari Fleischer; saw President Bush; and, on one occasion, rode in the presidential motorcade.
In the wake of Sept. 11, Brehm says, “everyone just got a lot more serious about their jobs.” The hours got longer, too. “You have no life,” he says. “That’s one of the downsides of working at the White House.”
Lawrence Robinson ’04 interned for the American Civil Liberties Union, studying issues, evaluating candidates, corresponding with legislative offices, and researching economic non-discrimination and racial profiling. “Since CMC internships are 9-to-5, you’re a real staff member,” says Robinson. “And the CMC classes there are not at all easier than on campus; they really worked us hard.”
“Internship supervisors praise the academic challenges of the program,” Spalding says, “because they get better interns and substantive research done for their organizations as a result.”
The research paper is structured around one-on-one tutorials, during which the instructor and student discuss possible topics and review drafts. Because paper topics are linked with the student’s internship, on-the-job supervisors or colleagues may also guide the project.
Megan Baesman ’03 was in Washington during the time of the anthrax scare, and wrote a paper about bio-terrorism and the public health infrastructure for her employer, Physicians for Social Responsibility. Baesman’s paper formed the basis of the advocacy group’s approach to the topic.
“I began my research after 9/11, but before the first anthrax case broke in Florida,” Baesman says. “I had the chance to study public policy, literally, as it was unfolding. Physicians for Social Responsibility was already working on an initiative related to bio-terrorism and infectious disease tracking. Their professional expertise gave me a good jumping-off point for my research. At the same time, I felt like I was able to break new ground. My research was both exciting to me and beneficial for the group.”
Professor of Government John J. Pitney Jr., the program’s faculty liaison, says he was concerned that students would be scared away from the program after Sept. 11. The deadline to participate in the spring 2002 session came just days after the terrorist attacks, but, ironically, there was a surge in applications. “That may be coincidental or it may reflect a greater interest in public service,” Pitney says.
Students say it is no coincidence.
“I felt a strong urge to go to D.C.,” says Robinson, one of the 18 students who participated in the program in spring 2002.
Robinson’s employers at the ACLU opposed the new powers granted to the Bush administration after Sept. 11. Although the ACLU has lost many recent battles, Robinson says his time in Washington boosted his confidence and gave him a taste of the working world.
“I had drinks with my coworkers after work and talked about policy,” Robinson recalls with a laugh. “Now I know where the liberals hang out in Washington.”
Making contacts through internships, faculty, guest speakers, receptions, social engagements, conferences, and congressional hearings is a key component of the program. Students have access to a powerful network of more than 270 CMC alumni, many of whom first came to D.C. via the Washington Program and who often want to help students have as great an experience as they did.
“If a student called any of our D.C. alumni, they’d make plans to meet for coffee and talk in a heartbeat,” says Holly McCord ’92, CMC’s associate director of alumni relations. “The chapter is always willing to help people in the area.”
Carl See ’99, president of CMC’s Washington alumni chapter, makes it a priority to involve students in alumni functions from watching Georgetown Hoyas basketball games to hearing guest speakers. When See’s Washington Program class dined at the Capitol City Brewery with recent CMC graduates in 1998, the experience made him appreciate the sizable local CMC population. “A welcoming CMC community provides a slice of comfort,” says See. “Networking in the CMC community has helped me to meet new friends, to expand my business contacts, and to explore the D.C. area culture.”
In spring 1996, Mark Mehringer ’98 worked in the Clinton-Gore campaign office responsible for signing up volunteers and interns. Mehringer remembers how several volunteers from Arkansas, then-President Clinton’s home state, showed up at the campaign and promptly landed plum jobs. The experience showed him the importance of networking: a skill Mehringer now uses navigating D.C. political circles as a consultant for Decision Research.