| Washington
Semester attracts largest, most diverse class yet BY
ADRIENNE FRANK Next
week, Washington Semester dean David Brown will bid farewell to
the 555 students, a record number, who flocked to D.C. this semester
for the educational adventure of a lifetime. “The
program is as strong as it’s ever been, in terms of interest,”
said Brown. “We’re serving more students than ever before
in our 57-year history.” He
added this fall’s crop of students was also more diverse than
in years past. “The
American students seem to be fairly evenly divided in partisan attachments,”
Brown explained. “I suspect a sharper cleavage exists here
than on the main campus; that’s a reflection of the colleges
from which they hail.”
Brown was also pleased with the large number of German and French
students who participated in the program this fall. “America’s
role in Iraq isn’t very popular in those countries. But by
them being here, it’s enriched our program. We’ve always
prided ourselves on the diversity of opinions in our seminars; now
we have diversity of students, as well.” Brown
attributed the record enrollment—the previous high was 515
students in 1988—in part to the presidential election, which
he said always generates a spike in interest. Also, he said in recent
years Washington Semester has been extremely successful in developing
partnerships with international universities. “Ten
years ago we didn’t really have any international students
to speak of,” he explained. “This year we had 89.” According
to Brown, this semester’s international scholars represented
19 countries and 28 international universities, while the rest hailed
from 45 states across the country. Also completing the program were
five American Indian students sponsored by Washington- area agencies
and 54 mentorship students—college freshman who have been admitted
to AU for the spring semester and want to get a jump start on their
Washington experience. The
students chose from 11 tracks of study though, according to Brown,
nearly half, 48 percent, enrolled in public law and justice, American
politics, and foreign policy, a program which he said has made a
comeback in recent years. Among
the D.C.-area offices and agencies where students interned this
semester were: the White House, the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, NBC, the Department of Homeland Security, the Mexican
and Canadian embassies, and the office of Senator Hillary Clinton
(D-N.Y.). Brown
said students also interned with Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.),
himself a Washington Semester alumni, who participated in the foreign
policy program in 1991. “He’s
the first to say,” Brown said, “that it all started here.” |
