ByGeorge!

February 2008

Semester In Washington Program Receives AT&T Grant for Native American Political Leadership Program




New students in the Native American Political Leadership Program, part of GW’s Semester In Washington program, came together with President Knapp at a breakfast at the AT&T Washington office on Jan. 17. The program is sponsored by AT&T.

By Julia Parmley

More Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian students will be able to hone their political skills in Washington, D.C., thanks to a new grant from AT&T. The company has given GW’s Semester In Washington program $525,000 to expand its Native American Political Leadership Program, an initiative first launched in January 2006 through an earlier $357,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation.

The Native American Political Leadership Program was developed as the first-of-its-kind political leadership scholarship program to attract high-achieving American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian college students to the Semester In Washington program. The program offers an up-close view of Washington, D.C.—how decisions are made, power is wielded, and government is run—by putting undergraduates right at the epicenter of the process. Through the program, students learn firsthand elements of political campaigns, from message development and media production to voter targeting, direct mail, and fundraising. Students also take classes for undergraduate or graduate credit on the electoral and legislative processes.

On Jan. 17, students in the Native American Political Leadership Program, GW faculty and staff, and AT&T staff gathered to recognize the new students entering the program and the partnership between the University and AT&T during a breakfast at the AT&T Washington office.

“When the program first started, we envisioned six Native American students, primarily from the Southwest,” says Director of the Semester In Washington Politics Program Greg Lebel. “Here we are, a mere two years later, with 20 students from 13 states including Alaska and Hawaii. We’ve come a long way and are delighted to be here.”

“I was pleased to find out that we have a program like this in existence,” said GW President Steven Knapp at the event. “It’s a very significant initiative.”

Donde Leopoldo, a Native Hawaiian and graduate of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, will spend a semester interning at the Washington, D.C., Bureau of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

“It’s awesome to get to meet other Native folks, Indians, and Alaskan Natives, because we all share a similar bond,” she says. “It’s good that there are programs like this. I want to learn whatever this program has to offer and use it to build our future in Hawaii.”



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