“Was it popular?” she asks. “Absolutely not, but it meant being responsible so we can take our heads out of the sand and deal with the pressing issues we face as a city.” On other fronts, a new police commissioner has been reviewing the department and put forth a plan for reform that mixes a focus on violent repeat offenders, guns, and crime prevention with better relations between police and communities. Her administration has boosted some taxes while slightly lowering the property tax rate, long a sore point for homeowners. Her anti-blight program has financed demolition of 4,000 old buildings to make way for new development. Roads are under repair, and some recreation centers have been closed, to be replaced by new ones as finances stabilize. She has taken some heat for providing city support for big develop- ment projects, but argues that continued investment is necessary to keep the city’s economy expanding. Big-picture thinking brought tourism and jobs to the Inner Harbor 30 years ago. “But you can’t make that invest- ment just once,” she says. “We must continue to protect past investments as well as the jobs that were created.” That’s the reality, says city council member Clarke. The Fortune 500 headquarters vanished long ago, as did industries like the Bethlehem Steel plant outside the city that once employed 25,000 residents. “We can’t chase the smokestacks anymore, but we can apply incentives for job creation by the city’s big employers,” says Clarke. “It’s about supporting private initiatives.” As an example, Clarke cites the presence of athletic clothing maker UnderArmor, headquartered in a former Proctor & Gamble detergent factory on the city’s waterfront. The city also is the center of a major health care industry anchored by the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University. But strengthening the city also means strengthening neighborhoods, says Rawlings-Blake. Healthy neighborhoods have good schools, and it is clear that the 21st Century Schools Project is her proudest achievement. She worked with state officials (including Governor O’Malley) for the program, obtaining almost $1 billion to renovate some schools and build new ones. This, she says, is the “most significant legislative achievement for the City of Baltimore in modern history. We will transform Baltimore’s communities for generations to come.” Clarke agrees. “If nothing else happens while she’s mayor, that will be a legacy,” she says. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has already announced she will run again for mayor in 2016. (She gets an extra year in office this term because of a change in the city’s voting schedule.) Political scientist Bullock says she is likely to win. “No elected, incumbent mayor in Baltimore’s history has ever lost when seeking re-election.” Bullock nevertheless speculates that she may have an eye on some higher office, state or federal, but Maryland’s incumbents in Congress and the Senate are well entrenched, and a new governor was elected this November. Still, she may allow herself to scan the horizon from time to time. She maintains some national visibility as vice president and board member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and as secretary of the Democratic National Committee. For the moment, though, an ambitious politician who is only in her 40s can afford to wait and concentrate on the present. “What I’ve found in my life that works is doing a really good job at what I’m doing, staying focused on that, and not looking at what’s next,” she says. “I’m keenly aware that many people live and die and don’t get to do what they were called to do. I get to do that every day.” n AARON LEVIN ’68 LIVES IN BALTIMORE AND WRITES ABOUT SCIENCE AND MEDICINE FOR PSYCHIATRIC NEWS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS. COLE POWERED POLITICS Mayor Stephanie Rawlings- Blake was the keynote speaker as Oberlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Cole Scholars politics internship program in November with a weekend of panel discussions and informal get-togethers. Since 1994, more than 200 students have been placed in eight-week campaign internships in which they study and work on political races throughout the country. The Cole Scholars Program is offered through the Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics, a nonpartisan program funded by Class of 1956 alumni Richard and Dorothy Cole to encourage graduates to run for and serve in public office. Selected Cole Scholars are supported financially and professionally in field placements during the summer. Recent participants have worked on the campaigns of Bill de Blasio for Mayor of New York, Terry McAuliffe for Governor of Virginia, Michelle Nunn for U.S. Senate, and Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate, while others have held internships with major consulting firms. The experience often helps students once they leave Oberlin, says Michael Parkin, associate professor of politics. “In fact, many of them have gone on to impressive positions in government, advertising, and campaigns.” Among them are Poy Winichakul ‘11 and Luke Squire ‘11, who founded LaunchProgress. Winichakul says the nonprofit group “works to increase the number of young progressives in local office today in order to grow the base of national progressive leaders in the future.” Its advocacy arm encourages young progres- sives—particularly people from underrepresented backgrounds in politics—to run for office and pushes progressives to support young candidates. Its political action commit committee endorses and supports candidates who fit their criteria. In an election year that did not see a lot of bright spots for political progressives, LaunchProgress bucked the trend: Half of the 10 candidates the organization endorsed prevailed. Winichakul says participat- ing in the Cole Scholars allowed her to refine her political sensibility. “Oberlin opened my eyes and gave me a chance to try a lot of different things,” she says. They included direct service, community organizing, and exploring power, privilege, and oppression. Through LaunchProgress, she says she can work with all of the approaches she “sampled.” She also offers a simpler version of her evolution: “Luke made me go to OC Democrats meetings, then I started watching West Wing, I did Cole Scholars, and it was all over from there,” she says. Squire said he was dispirited after the first candidate he worked for as a Cole Scholar in 2010 was defeated, but he is now more hopeful and more strategic. “I realize now that the vision for success has to take the long view.” He says he is “less emotional about how one year or one legislative cycle moves,” because he believes that for any change to have meaning, it will take a long, slow push to make it happen. The long view appears to be working for LaunchProgress. “In December, we had breakfast with one of our successful candidates about which bills she plans to introduce, about her staffing decisions for her office, about recruiting candidates in the 2016 election,” he says, “ and we realized—this is real.” OBERLIN ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2015 / SPRING 23