Students get first look at Virginia General Assembly

As the spring semester began at VCU, 36 students from colleges across the state prepared to delve into the inner workings of state government as part of the Virginia Capital Semester program. During it’s five years of operation, the program has attracted over 220 students from 17 colleges and universities in Virginia to participate in an internship in both executive and legislative branches.

As interns in the program this year, we benefited from interacting with state senators, delegates and gubernatorial staff members, giving us an unparalleled learning experience and first-hand insight into Virginia’s legislative process.

Professor Jen Thompson, who serves as the Director of External Relations for VCU’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, coordinated the internship program and worked with staff in the General Assembly and the governor’s office to match students with public officials based on student preferences and the officials’ needs.

During our internship, we worked on a broad range of tasks, such as drafting resolutions, tracking bills, analyzing policy proposals, assisting constituents, overseeing Web page development related to Virginia’s use of federal stimulus funding, and much more. While many of us thought that we would observe a strong partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats, we were pleasantly surprised to find cordiality and compromise within each sector of the General Assembly and the governor’s office.

Throughout the internship experience, the public officials and support staff we worked with welcomed us and valued our contributions. Some of us were unsure how much responsibility we would be given and how much of an impact we could make as interns, but ultimately it was very rewarding to feel like we made a difference as aides to state legislators and the governor.

This hands-on experience was complemented by the instruction and support we received from Professor William Leighty, who is the Director of VCU’s Government Performance Initiative. Leighty also served as Chief of Staff for both Gov. Mark Warner and Gov. Tim Kaine between 2002 and 2007. He taught a public policy seminar to accompany the internship, and his expertise guided us on the steps that students can take to get more involved within the political arena.

Leighty’s knowledge of the important players in state government allowed us to meet with high-ranking individuals such as the Clerk of the House of Delegates Bruce Jamerson, the Clerk of the Senate Susan Schaar, and the respective party leaders in both the House and Senate (Speaker William Howell and Majority Leader Richard Saslaw), to name a few. These valuable discussions with public leaders provided us with tools of wisdom to further our aspirations of becoming more involved in politics.

Many of us are still continuing a working relationship in the office we worked in, and have plans to work with them in the future. Because this is an election year for many public officials, some interns have decided to assist this summer in volunteer or paid campaign positions. A number of VCU students who served in this year’s program and who will be in the Richmond area next year plan on working with the same office for the 2010 legislative session.

Our overall experience in the VCU Capital Semester program made us implore others, young and old, to partake in the political process at any level of government. Being able to see first-hand as Capital Semester interns that our elected officials work tirelessly to ensure the voice of the public is heard and accounted for has forever
impacted our lives.

EmilyMazich, Urooj Mughal, Jose Guevera, Shanti Mullen, Candice Hudson, Mulu Gerima and Brian Marroquin all contributed to this article