Amidst the exciting buzz of the Presidential Inauguration and the confirmation hearings of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, it was difficult to navigate the nation’s capital without seeing at least one Oberlin intern or activist. Indeed, dozens of Obies flocked to Washington, D.C. to pursue diverse Winter Term opportunities, from working on Capitol Hill to assisting with issue advocacy.

Sophomore Erica Matson reported that she worked on the Hill with the staff of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), where she “answered phones, researched issues, responded to constituent mail, ran errands, copied, scanned and dug up news stories” relevant to her office’s work. Sophomore Hannah Neprash had the chance to work for Representative Betty McCollum, a Democratic congresswoman who represents her district in Minnesota. Neprash gave tours to constituents, attended meetings with legislative associates and performed clerical tasks.

Winter Term projects extended past the Hill to the offices of nonprofit organizations. First-year Anne Hoffman attended meetings on debt cancellation and AIDS policy as an assistant to the director of the Washington Office on Africa. First-year Shira Ziegler, a prospective biology major, worked at Environmental Defense, a “nonprofit organization that links science, economics and law to create innovative solutions to urgent environmental problems.” There, she “analyzed industry reports on toxicity of high production volume chemicals” and “compiled research on nanotechnology related to public health and the environment.”

The Review’s own former editor-in-chief, senior Douglass Dowty, worked in the nation’s capital as a journalist. He reported for the McClatchy Company, the seventh-largest newspaper chain in the country. As a Capitol Hill correspondent, he wrote articles that appeared in six newspapers across three states.

There were also opportunities for Obies to gather together to share stories of their adventures and experiences in the capitol at a lasagna dinner hosted by Joel Katz, OC ’71. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who represented the town of Oberlin in Congress until a recent redistricting, sponsored a lunch for Oberlin students on Capitol Hill to answer questions ranging from the role of faith in politics to the role of the new Democratic minority. In reference to the 2004 presidential election, Brown noted that he was “very impressed” with the high level of political enthusiasm and activism he observed on the campus.

Students interested in internships in Washington, D.C. are advised to start looking early and contact internship coordinators in the capital, as congressional offices often fill their internship slots for the summer months in advance. Many Oberlin students who spent January in Washington applied for their positions through the College’s e-recruiting site, the politics department or appeals to hometown congressmen and women.