This summer, students Andrew Lee '07, Craig McPherson '06, Joanna Repsold '07, and Erin Scearcy '06 received $3,000 Political Education Fellowships to intern for political campaigns. Sponsored by the Kravis Leadership Institute, the Rose Institute of State and Local Government, the Office of the President, Trustee Cary Davidson '75, David Huntoon '65, and CMC's Career Services Center, the new, biannual PEF program is the brainchild of Robert Leon '04, who has been busy this summer with advanced campaign work for presidential candidate John Kerry in Washington, D.C. The following is Assistant Professor of Government Ken Miller's reflection on the genesis of these new fellowships:

Readers of this magazine know that CMC is a great college, and that its students are a main source of its strength. In my first year on the CMC faculty, the students have impressed me in many ways, but especially by their eagerness to take initiative. Robert Leon '04 provides one recent example. Last fall, Robert, then a senior, came to my office to tell me about a new venture he had conceived: the Political Education Fellowship. He wanted me to help with the PEF Fellows' selection process. As I listened to the concept, I quickly became convinced of its educative value.

I knew that CMC has always sought to produce leaders, and that it does so in part by combining a rigorous academic education with opportunities for practical "hands-on" experience. The CMC Washington Program, founded by Professors Alan Heslop and Fred Balitzer more than 30 years ago, is a wonderful example of this approach. I participated in that program as an undergraduate, and the experience greatly deepened my interest in national politics and policy and helped shape my vision for my career.

But while the Washington Program provides opportunities to serve in Washington institutions, such as a congressional office, the White House, a lobbying firm, or a media organization, the College had not given students institutional support for participating in the rough and tumble of candidate elections.

Creating fellowships to support students who want to spend the summer of an election year working for a political campaign would fill that need. The campaign internship, in a compressed period of time, would provide insight into electoral politics. Especially if the candidate or a senior member of the campaign provided active mentoring, access, and substantive assignments, the intern would gain unique experience in electoral strategy, grassroots organizing, event planning, fundraising, and communications.

These kinds of experiences clearly complement and reinforce the education CMC provides students in classrooms, the institutes, and the Athenaeum. But the difficulty is that candidates usually are unable to pay interns, so many students need financial support in order to commit a summer to a campaign. Thus, the next step was to convince CMC faculty and administrators to support the creation of campaign fellowships. The College quickly embraced the idea, and a variety of sources generously provided funding for four PEF Fellows.

When I agreed to help interview applicants, Robert and I talked more about selection criteria. We agreed the selection panel would consider the students' personal qualities, giving priority to applicants who were enthusiastic, personable, exceptionally hard-working, and both book smart and street smart. We would also give preference to students who would be working for a candidate in a highly competitive race and who would be given significant responsibility on the campaign.

We knew the applicants would have a challenge finding competitive races. As political scientists have documented, the nation has a dwindling supply of competitive seats; instead, for a number of reasons, in most races one party's candidate is almost guaranteed victory. Nevertheless, the selection panel believed that the fellowships should be reserved, if possible, for students who lined up internships in hot races—either in a contested primary or a battleground district or state.

When the selection panel reviewed applications in the spring, the pool consisted of 17 applicants and was exceptionally strong. We were especially impressed by the four winners (two freshmen and two sophomores) who fully satisfied the program's personal qualifications, and had secured campaign internships in compelling races in Arizona, Colorado, Washington, and Kansas.

Robert Leon graduated in May, and knew he would be unable to compete for a fellowship in the program he created. But this year's four PEF Fellows, their campaigns, and CMC have all benefited from his vision and initiative.

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