Temple talks internships and scholarships for Democratic National Convention
WRITTEN BY: ANTHONY PEARSON
For the first time, specifics were announced this week surrounding the scholarships being offered up by Temple to allow students to work at the Democratic National Convention. While rumors and various unofficial bits of information regarding this program have been circulating for some time now, this marks the first official campus statement on the program.
Continuing the trend of breakthroughs and successes for Temple this year, the non-profit, non-partisan Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) has worked with Temple to obtain ten scholarships for students wishing to attend the academic program at the DNC this year.
These announcements were all made at Tuesday’s press conference in Sullivan Hall, in which Temple University President Neil Theobald and TWC President Mike Smith detailed all of the plans surrounding the scholarships.
While the scholarships do not cover housing, they will be providing the students who receive them an internship opportunity to work with various party officials, members of different committees, and the multitude of media outlets that will be covering the event. As Smith put it, “This academic seminar teaches students about the process, but not from the sidelines. Students learn from within, in the thick of it. ”
Over 200 students are expected to be in attendance of the program, which will provide lectures and classes at Temple’s main campus in addition to the actual fieldwork. This program is one of a kind, making it the best opportunity for students to get involved in the DNC at a collegiate level.
In operation every election cycle since 1984, the Washington Center’s DNC/RNC program gives students opportunities to not only get directly involved with the conventions, but also to sit in on lectures and briefings from some of politics and media’s most distinguished speakers. Speakers often include, well-known figures in media such as Bob Schieffer of CBS and important political figures including local governors and the convention chairs themselves.
In the end, students interning at the conventions will have access to various speakers, briefings, and panel discussions, as well as small group meetings, fieldwork at the DNC/RNC, and additional convention related events. All in all, this program marks an unparalleled opportunity to network and gain experience, in both media and politics.
The program and scholarships are available for this election’s Republican National Convention as well as the Democratic National Convention. The deadline for scholarship applications was Friday, Nov. 20. However, the application deadline for the program as a whole is March 1, 2016. More information on the internship program and application process can be found at the Washington Center’s website (http://www.twc.edu/seminars/campaign2016).
