By Thomas O. Robbins '04
Early on the morning of November 7, about 40 students from the Wilson Center for Leadership in the
Public Interest and the Pre-Law Society boarded a charter bus and embarked on
the annual trip to Washington, D.C.
The bus arrived at the Rayburn House Office Building in mid-morning, and students
began the day’s events with a discussion headed by Joel Velasco ’95, who
spoke about his start in government and the successive roles he has
played. He has worked with the U.S.
Ambassador to Brazil and now is the Vice-President of Stonebridge
International, which is an international business consulting firm.
However, Joel would be only the first of
many speakers with whom Hampden-Sydney students would have the opportunity to
speak and network.
Following a
delightful and needed lunch at Tortilla Coast, students were given a choice
between a tour of the U.S. Supreme Court or a session with a variety of alumni
working in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
While both sessions were highly praised, the
Supreme Court tour was truly a rare experience.
 Josh Bushman, Class of 2004, who had interned in the Clerk of Court’s
office in the U.S. Supreme Court building, led an exclusive tour
which took students to places normally off limits to the public.
Students were ushered from the main reading room, that houses legal codes from every state in the nation, to the personal
gymnasium of the Justices, where students played basketball.
Although it may seem that this would be
enough to capture one’s full attention, students were astonished and speechless
when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor walked into the room as they were quickly
escorted out. Shortly after the first
encounter with Justice O’Connor, it seemed that everyone was scrutinizing every
person to locate another Justice. Students roamed freely through the main
courtroom
and were allowed to
touch the podium where many famous cases have been debated and argued. The tour concluded on the
Supreme Court Building roof where students walked around to get the best view
of the District of Columbia including the Capital dome.
Yet, this tour, like all good things, had to
come to an end, and the Hampden-Sydney students returned to a full group
session.
Over the next hour, the group was enlightened
by Mark Valente and Bryan Brendle ’88, both of whom are lobbyists, on the
function of lobbyists in the government process and policy-making. Many of the preconceived notions and myths
of interest groups were debunked by their explanation of the
true nature and practice of their profession.
Next, Col. Rucker Snead ’81 and Col. Thomas Matthews briefed the group
on issues and problems in the maintenance of homeland security and discussed
the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, on which Col. Matthews is
currently working. In particular, Col.
Matthews noted that the new department would be an accumulation of government
workers from other departments and a variety of fields.
Our discussion of homeland security
continued at a Washington Area Alumni function held at the Capital Hill
Club. At the Club, the international
issue of terrorism was tackled by Lewis Robinson ’91, who is working in the
Global Terrorism Division at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
He gave many accolades to his liberal arts
education at Hampden-Sydney, especially the rhetoric program, and stressed the importance of a liberal arts education for success and job mobility.
After many hands had been shaken and
business cards exchanged, our eventful day was concluded with remarks from Dean of Admissions, Anita Garland.
Throughout
the event-locked day, students left with their wallets full of business cards
and their minds full of new perspectives on the world issues.
In fact, Edmund Haskins, Class of 2003,
enthusiastically commented, “We had the opportunity to meet lobbyists, former congressmen, and FBI officials,
to talk about global terrorism, and to run into a Supreme Court Justice.
It was quite an experience.”
Haskins’ perception of the Washington trip
was universally shared.
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