This fall, 17 Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program members are living and working in D.C., making up the largest group since the program began 40 years ago. According to Sophie Carr, the program manager of the George Washington Fellowship Program, this is almost twice the average for a typical WHIP class.
Carr attributes this rise in participation to the new Hillsdale house that sits two blocks down from the Allan P. Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship.
“The Hillsdale house feels like a dorm from campus,” Carr said. “It feels like you are re-planted somewhere else [on campus.]”
For most students, internships began at the beginning of September. Among the group, internships range from working at the National Portrait Gallery to assisting Fox News correspondents to aiding the staff of Sen. Ted Cruz.
Initially, Junior Leah Whetstone was hesitant to study in Washington D.C., but the scholarship and “once in a lifetime” opportunity secured her commitment to the program.
“There are fewer interns in the fall, which opens up a wider variety of places to work,” Whetstone said. “Already, the people I have met and the connections I’ve made are phenomenal and it couldn’t have happened in Hillsdale.”
Whetstone works as the digital intern at the Institute for Energy Research, a non-profit research organization in Washington D.C.
The development of the internship program has made Carr confident that her focus will not be as demanded in the WHIP arena. Her new project is “Semester in D.C.”
“At this point, WHIP is self-perpetuating,” Carr said. “The more students who are out there, the more who want to go the next semester. Semester in D.C. is aimed toward students who want the WHIP experience but don’t have time for a nine credit internship.”
This semester there are three students participating in the program.
