WUSTL Students to attend national conventions

Senior Hana Greenberg and junior Scott Friedman, both in Arts & Sciences, will gain an inside look at the U.S. political process by participating in a Washington Center educational program focused on the election year.

As part of the program, Greenberg will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver while Friedman will travel to Minneapolis to attend the Republican National Convention. Both will receive media credentials through Student Life, the University’s student newspaper, to have access to exclusive events at the conventions.

The Washington Center is a nonprofit organization serving colleges and universities in the U.S. and other countries by providing selected students challenging opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C. for academic credit.

The Gephardt Institute for Public Service selected Greenberg and Friedman for this program in spring 2008. Representatives from Student Union and the Congress of the South 40 worked with Robin Hattori, Gephardt Institute program director, to narrow down the large pool of interested students.

“We had an amazing response,” says Hattori. “It gave me great hope to see how many students feel personally invested in the democratic process. Greenberg and Friedman stood out among applicants for their enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and ability to represent the University at a national level.”

Greenberg, who worked on the John Kerry and Claire McCaskill campaigns and interned for U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, says that she has wanted to go to the Democratic National Convention ever since she knew what it was.

Friedman, a John B. Ervin scholar and independent who has interned for U.S. Senator Kit Bond, evaluates each candidate for their individual stances and how they would serve the country rather than their political affiliation.

The Gephardt Institute will work with both students to share their experiences with the campus community through presentations and programming leading up to the vice presidential debate.


Keep up with Hana Greenberg’s blog on the Student Life Web site: http://blogs.studlife.com/