With prominent advertisements springing up across campus, the Les Aspin Center for Government has been gaining more attention from students this semester than ever before. Widely seen as merely an internship in Washington, D.C. for Political Science majors, the Les Aspin Center is actually open to all majors and offers a program in Milwaukee, an exchange program in Africa and summer internships in D.C.

Previously known merely as the Marquette Washington Intern Program, The Center was renamed in honor of its benefactor, Les Aspin, after his death in 1995. Les Aspin was an assistant professor of economics at Marquette University before his election to the United States House of Representatives. He was named the Secretary of Defense in 1993 under the Clinton administration, where his term was racked with problems, including the infamous fiasco in Mogadishu.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense Web site, as a result of his refusal to send tanks and armored vehicles to the U.S. forces in Somalia, enemy “forces in Mogadishu killed 18 U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 75 in attacks that also resulted in the shooting down of three U.S. helicopters and the capture of one pilot.” Aspin claimed that the request had been made in the context of humanitarian aid, which had prompted his refusal. He resigned shortly after in 1994, citing personal reasons and returned to Marquette University as a professor of international policy. Due to his influence in creating the internship program, Marquette decided the Center should be renamed in his honor.

Although the Les Aspin Center is focused on students with an interest in public policy, it does not limit programs to political science majors. According to Kathryn Hein, the Assistant Director of the Center in Milwaukee, the number of communication and journalism majors in the program is rapidly increasing. Over the past few years, the Center has sent approximately 10 biomedical engineers to Washington per year for internships at the Food and Drug Administration. Communication majors often intern in press offices or at local newspapers, such as the “Washington Post”.

While in Washington D.C., students take 15 credits of classes two days per week, then intern three days per week. Internships are matched to the students’ interests and political views, and allow them to be a part of day-to-day activities in the Capitol.

Kyle Mayo, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Aspin Council, a committee of program alumni, said, “I went to committee hearings, wrote memos…I wrote amendments to the federal budget!”

Kevin Seifert, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, alumnus of the Washington program and co-founder and chair of the Aspin Council, said he gained immensely valuable experience, while at Les Aspin. As an intern in Congressman Tom Petri’s office, he gave tours of the Capitol building, attended hearings and worked alongside the congressman.

“It got my foot in the door for a lot of opportunities for after graduation…You need that in Washington,” Seifert said.

In addition to the Washington D.C. program, the Les Aspin Center sponsors a program based in Milwaukee, placing students in local, city and state government offices for a three-credit internship. The Kleczka Internship Program is also available to all majors and targets students with financial need, allowing them a stipend of up to 1500 dollars, so that students can focus on the internship and not a job.

The Center also sponsors an exchange program with Africa, which brings approximately 18 students from East Africa for six weeks and 18 from West Africa the following semester also for six weeks. Participants spend five weeks in Washington, D.C., learning about the American process of government and American culture and another week in Milwaukee on the Marquette campus. Over winter break, about 18 Marquette Students spend a week in Africa meeting with government leaders and talking to graduates of the Aspin Africa Program.

The Center’s programs take student needs into great consideration to allow them a glimpse into the workings of the country. Marquette is beginning to accept applicants from other universities to partake in this opportunity to work in the Capitol as well, including students from Loyola, University of Wisconsin- Madison and University of Pittsburgh.

“You are in the power hub of the country,” Mayo said.

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