art/sci fall/winter 2009 Student News

A Call to Public Service

Students Enter the World of Politics and Policy Thanks to the Wellman Hill Internship Program

Clockwise from the top: Nicholas Hilgeman, Alexandra Klyachkina and David Mattern all worked a short walk or Metro ride away from the U.S. Capitol during their summer in Washington.

Photo: Rick Reinhard

Elizabeth Michelle Hill '97 knows how valuable internships can be in preparing students for careers in public service. The summer she graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a bachelor's and a master's degree in political science, she completed an eight-week internship at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., which publishes studies of court procedures and offers continuing education for legal professionals. "I was responsible for doing research into state laws on victim restitution and how those laws were applied in different states," Hill recalls. She saw her findings incorporated into bench manuals for judges. That fall, when she entered Stanford Law School, she already had a solid grounding in legal research.

But Hill also knows the obstacles that undergraduates face in pursuing such opportunities. Until her senior year, she never applied for a summer internship, and neither did most of her fellow political science majors. They needed paying jobs, and most public service internships are unpaid. Hill's situation changed by the time she graduated; the Truman Foundation, which awarded her a law school scholarship, also supported her during her two months as a Washington intern. But until then, she'd spent most of her summers working at Kentucky Fried Chicken. "Like a lot of my friends, I would have loved to do something more substantive," Hill says. "But I needed the summer to earn money for the following year."

Now, thanks to an endowment gift that Hill made to the political science department in 2007, undergraduates are getting a chance "to do something more substantive." The Wellman Hill Political Science Internship Program provides up to $4,000 to five students each year so they can accept unpaid internships with the government or with policy-oriented think tanks and advocacy groups. Just as important, it motivates students to consider applying for internships, says assistant professor of political science Elliot Posner.

Hill named the program for her grandfather, a onetime Navy draftsman who worked for the government his whole life. "He was a patriot," Hill says, "and he always believed that government service was honorable and one of the best things you could do for your country. He really instilled that in me." She adds, "He always loved meeting my friends and dealing with young people; he felt that it kept him young. He would have been proud to have his name on something like this."

Intrinsic Motivations

Until recently, most students didn't count on having internships as undergraduates. But as any career counselor can tell you, expectations have changed. Today's college students have heard that in order to compete for entry-level positions, they will need real-world experience. Many want to try out a field before they make a commitment. And for students attracted to public service, there are strong intrinsic motivations for getting an internship: They get to see the actual workings of law and government, engage in the political process, work alongside influential policy analysts and contribute their talents to institutions and causes they believe in.

That list also describes the experiences of the first Wellman Hill interns, who received their grants in the summer of 2008.

Jane Kaminski compiled research on U.S. defense policy and the military budgeting process at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Sarah Tolbert monitored political developments in Africa and South Asia for the Carter Center in Atlanta, which observes elections around the world and assists national governments in developing or improving their election laws. Hema Krishna organized legislative briefings for Genetic Alliance, which seeks to influence law and policy related to genetic conditions and health information technology. Komal Patel, pursuing her interest in global health policy, assisted patients at a free eye clinic in Dhenkanal, India, as an intern for the nonprofit organization Unite for Sight. And Nicholas Sachanda confirmed his ambition to become a prosecutor after 13 weeks with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in Chicago.

Posner, who chairs the Wellman Hill selection committee, says these students had two things in common: "They were dazzling candidates, and they got terrific internships." Yet their interests were remarkably diverse — a reminder of the many forms a career in public service can take. And this was equally true of the students selected in the program's second year.

"These are completely different individuals, with different resumés," Posner says. "They are having unique college experiences. And once they graduate, they will go off to do interesting and important things, I'm very sure." The three students who obtained Washington internships this past summer illustrate his point.

New Experiences

David Mattern was one of two undergraduates selected by the Supreme Court’s Judicial Internship Program for the summer of 2009.

Photo: Rick Reinhard

David Mattern, a senior majoring in mathematics, English and political science, is the first Case Western Reserve student ever accepted into the Supreme Court's Judicial Internship Program, which selects only two undergraduates from a national pool of candidates each summer.

In an essay accompanying his application, Mattern examined the influence of Roman constitutionalism on the American system of government. He had studied this topic in one of four courses on constitutional law and history he took with his advisor, political science instructor Laura Y. Tartakoff. He would later learn that Tartakoff was also one of Elizabeth Hill's favorite teachers.

As a judicial intern, Mattern didn't work on pending cases; that is a function reserved for law clerks. Instead, his task was to help promote "domestic and international awareness of the Court." Mattern conducted background research for the chief justice's public speeches and for information sessions the Court provides to foreign dignitaries. Attending those sessions, he says, was among the most interesting parts of his summer; he was fascinated by the visitors' questions about the American legal system.

Whereas Mattern is thinking of a career as a district attorney or Justice Department lawyer, Nicholas Hilgeman intends to join the U.S. Foreign Service. A senior with a double major in political science and international studies, Hilgeman became the second Wellman Hill grant recipient, after Jane Kaminski, to obtain an internship with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Such positions, says Posner, "are extremely competitive, and the fact that both Jane and Nick got these internships is very impressive."

Hilgeman has long been interested in the Arab world, both in itself and as it is perceived by Western countries. In the summer of his junior year, not yet knowing a word of Arabic, he spent two months in Morocco, where he completed a year's worth of language study at Al Akhawayn University. "I fell in love with the area," Hilgeman says. "It has such a rich history — politically, religiously. It is such an interesting and often misunderstood part of the world. And I think that is probably the biggest drawing factor to me."

As an intern with CSIS's Middle East program, Hilgeman contributed to briefings where staff members reported on developments across the region. "The point was to find off-the-main-road stories — stuff that wasn't covered in The New York Times or The Washington Post," he explains. For two larger research projects, he studied the impact of public health programs in Egypt over the past three decades and traced that country's history as a regional power.

In addition to lectures and panel discussions at CSIS, Hilgeman attended public events at other Washington think tanks. And on his daily walk to work, he was constantly reminded that he lived in a city of "national and international importance." Hilgeman had rented a room in a Sigma Nu fraternity house not far from the State Department. Each morning, he passed the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and then crossed Pennsylvania Avenue in view of the White House. That in itself, he says, was "a new and very exciting experience."

Organizing a Movement

Finally, a Wellman Hill grant enabled Alexandra Klyachkina to devote her summer to human rights advocacy. A junior majoring in political science and international studies, Klyachkina became an intern with the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET). Founded in 2004 in response to the crisis in Darfur, GI-NET monitors conflicts in several countries where atrocities are being committed against large numbers of non-combatants. By publicizing these abuses and generating support for civilian protection, it hopes to make "genocide prevention an important and relevant political priority for elected officials and policy makers."

Klyachkina first became active in the anti-genocide movement as a high school junior in Glenview, Illinois. After learning about Darfur in a religious studies class, she joined her school's chapter of STAND (Students Taking Action Now Darfur). Two years later, when she arrived for her first year at Case Western Reserve, she discovered that a few students had just founded a campus chapter. Soon she was working alongside future Wellman Hill grantee Sarah Tolbert, the group's first president, to attract additional members and organize events.

In GI-NET's national office last summer, Klyachkina assisted with outreach and membership development. She studied the guidelines that companies follow in deciding whether to curtail or cease their activities in countries committing genocide. She also helped plan a national student conference for the fall, working with peers from several colleges and universities. "It was very empowering," she says, "to see students — people my own age or a couple of years older — organizing this huge national movement."

Elizabeth Hill hosted a dinner in Cleveland for this year’s Wellman Hill interns and alternates. From left: Michael Hill (Elizabeth's father), Alexandra Klyachkina, David Mattern, Mirela Turc, Nicholas Hilgeman, Madeline Van Gunten, Nikolay Kanazirev and Elizabeth Hill

Photo: Andrew Lucker

A Sense of Certainty

Today, Elizabeth Hill is a deputy district attorney in San Mateo County, California. But each spring since the grant program began, she has hosted a dinner in Cleveland to honor the Wellman Hill interns. "All of them strike me as very serious students, very focused on their goals," Hill says. "And I am impressed by how much work they put into their applications." To be considered for a grant, students must do research on internship opportunities, apply for several positions and explain their choices in a personal statement. This past year, 14 students requested grants from the Wellman Hill program, and their applications were so strong that the selection committee decided to interview all of them.

Two students from the program's first summer wrote to Hill after they graduated. Krishna and Kaminski had just landed positions in the policy fields they had explored during their internships. "They wanted me to know," says Hill, "that the unpaid internships they were able to take because of the Wellman Hill grant had given them a leg up in their interviewing process for their first out-of-college jobs." Just as important, both of them said that "the chance to have a specific experience in their chosen field had given them a sense of certainty that this was their calling." Like Hill and her grandfather, these students had found their vocations.

Local Impact

Clockwise from the top: Elliot Posner, assistant professor of political science and internship coordinator; interns Mirela Turc and Madeline Van Gunten

Photo: Mike Sands

Though several recipients of Wellman Hill grants have accepted internships in Washington, Chicago and Atlanta, students are not required to go elsewhere in search of public service opportunities. Mirela Turc, who grew up in Cleveland and is interested in state and regional issues, spent this past summer at Policy Matters Ohio, a local think tank that focuses on economic development and education. A junior majoring in political science and history, Turc studied the economic impact of tax abatements for businesses that locate in enterprise zones and community reinvestment areas. She assembled a database of trade apprenticeships available to Ohio youth. In her favorite assignment, she went out as a "secret shopper" to payday lenders, inquiring about their interest rates and loan terms to see whether they were in compliance with a recently enacted state law. Turc plans to attend law school and hopes to work as a litigator in Cleveland.

Madeline Van Gunten, a junior majoring in political science and sociology, wants to be a public defender but is also interested in policy. As an intern with the Cleveland Department of Public Health, she helped write grants, studied proposed legislation and attended meetings with city council members and state officials. In the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, she learned how the department interacts with nonprofit groups and with state and federal agencies to operate programs and address failures to provide critical services. Through her internship, Van Gunten says, she developed "a broader understanding of the multiple organizations that are involved in every aspect of public health."