{"id":71498,"date":"2026-05-15T13:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=71498"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:18:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:18:48","slug":"cornell-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/cornell-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"These Students Are Learning on ‘The Hill\u2019\u2014But Not in Ithaca"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For nearly a half century, the Cornell in Washington program has offered immersive, life-changing lessons in the nation\u2019s capital<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Joe Wilensky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspiring physician RJ Ho \u201927 is fascinated by the machinations of healthcare policy\u2014and in spring 2026, he got a chance to see how those strategies are hashed out, proposed, and enacted in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested helping people and diagnosing what\u2019s wrong with an individual human being,\u201d says Ho, a biology major in Arts & Sciences, \u201cbut I also think that a physician should know the broader scope and understand the system in which they practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Students
Joe Wilensky \/ Cornell University<\/figcaption>
Participants live and study together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ho interned on the legislative team of New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, which gave him an up-close view of some inner workings of policymaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on\u2014tons of meetings, briefings, hearings, answering constituent calls and emails, even giving tours,\u201d says Ho, chatting with Cornellians<\/em> in early May, during the final weeks of his internship. \u201cWe\u2019re right at the center of the bureaucratic system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

We\u2019re right at the center of the bureaucratic system.<\/p>\nRJ Ho \u201927<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For Ho, the opportunity came via the Cornell in Washington<\/a> (CIW) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For nearly half a century, the program has sent several dozen students\u2014not only the expected government and history majors, but from across the University\u2014to D.C. for a semester, housing and teaching them in a four-story, Cornell-owned building in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"two
James Kegley<\/figcaption>
The Wolpe Center on O Street is CIW\u2019s headquarters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CIW students take courses together, get to know the city, attend guest lectures, and intern at a federal agency or department, nonprofit, think tank, or other organization\u2014including on Capitol Hill and at the White House, the D.C. Public Defenders office, the Library of Congress, the Federalist Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, and other notable venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudying public policy is even more important now than it has been\u2014not only with what\u2019s going on in the U.S., but the world,\u201d says David Silbey \u201990<\/a>, CIW\u2019s director of teaching and learning since 2023, \u201cand students are really recognizing the critical nature of being involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
James Kegley<\/figcaption>
Silbey has been with CIW since 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since the program\u2019s launch in 1980, some 4,400 Cornellians have taken part, Silbey says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alumni include former U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke \u201984; federal judge Alan Paez \u201988; Leonard Leo \u201987, JD \u201989, chairman of the Federalist Society; Dr. Mandy Krauthamer Cohen \u201900, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and media leaders like ESPN chairman James Pitaro \u201991.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others have gone on to serve as attorneys, counsel, and advisors to presidential administrations, elected officials, and Congressional committees, among other roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Studying public policy is even more important now than it has been\u2014not only with what\u2019s going on in the U.S., but the world, and students are really recognizing the critical nature of being involved.<\/p>\nDavid Silbey \u201990<\/strong>, director of teaching and learning<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The alums who\u2019ve gone on to political office include U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, MS \u201907<\/a>; now in her third term representing New Mexico\u2019s 1st District, she participated in CIW while earning a master\u2019s in sociology on the Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program\u2019s public policy class, she says, \u201cchanged the course of my career, and helped transform my passion for serving my community and love of learning into a career in public service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
Rare and Manuscript Collections<\/figcaption>
Prof. Larry Scheinman with students during the program\u2019s first term in 1980.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The original iteration of CIW was conceived by legendary Cornell government professor Ted Lowi<\/a>. Starting with six students in spring 1980, it grew to 25 participants the following year and quickly reached capacity, enrolling about 50 each term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty who taught in CIW\u2019s early years include Big Red giants like Lowi, Walter LaFeber<\/a>, and Joel Silbey<\/a>\u2014David Silbey\u2019s father, who himself directed the program from 1992\u201398.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it always comes back to the students, and watching them have this semester experience where they really start to flourish, not just as people, but as professionals,\u201d Silbey says. \u201cThey\u2019re in offices doing internships, eager to figure out what\u2019s going on, working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students
Cornell University<\/figcaption>
Participants near the Capitol in 2006.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During her CIW semester, Sydney Lonker \u201925, BS \u201924, interned at the National Economic Council\u2014an experience that, she says, taught her not only that she prefers economics to finance, but that she values public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearning about how the world works through government organizations affords you a completely different perspective on economic systems, how motivations are translated into policy, and how results are fed back into the system and interpreted,\u201d says Lonker, now a junior international affairs fellow at the U.S. Treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty who taught in CIW\u2019s early years include Big Red giants like Ted Lowi, Walter LaFeber, and Joel Silbey\u2014David Silbey\u2019s father, who himself directed the program from 1992\u201398.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Classmate Jenna Alland \u201925 describes CIW as a much smaller, more intimate version of studying on the Hill\u2014with courses taught by professors from Ithaca as well as guest lecturers who \u201clive, work, and breathe D.C. every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former government major who\u2019s headed to law school in fall 2026, Alland spent two semesters at CIW, interning on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
James Kegley<\/figcaption>
CIW students in the D.C. Metro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She vividly recalls a class discussion on political polarization that was held the evening after U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy\u2014amid fiery Congressional debates and the threat of a government shutdown\u2014became the first Speaker of the House ever to be voted out of the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExperiences like that,\u201d she says, \u201cmade every day at CIW feel like living through history in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Experiences like that made every day at CIW feel like living through history in real time.<\/p>\nJenna Alland \u201925<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

(On a lighter note, Alland also remembers one fellow participant student serving as the Easter Bunny during his White House internship, noting, \u201cWe still refer to him as FBOTUS\u2014First Bunny of the United States.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All CIW participants enroll in a core class that delves into the policy being made in the nation\u2019s capital, takes students on field trips, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
\n
\"students
Participants visit destinations like the National Gallery of Art …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Cornell
… CNN’s Washington bureau …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Cornell
… the Library of Congress …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"students
… and the National Museum of the American Indian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n

In spring 2026, its guest speakers included Rep. Beth Van Duyne \u201995<\/a> of Texas and Mick Mulvaney, who served as President Trump\u2019s chief of staff in 2019\u201320.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Duyne, Silbey recalls, spoke candidly about the experience of having her 24th District repeatedly gerrymandered by the state legislature\u2014meaning that in each of her three terms, she has represented a slightly different set of constituents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Says Silbey: \u201cIt was a fascinating insight into her experience as a politician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While CIW was long housed in the School of Continuing Education, it moved to the then-new Brooks School of Public Policy<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cornell
CIW’s regular visits with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg \u201954 included one in 1997 …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Cornell
… and another in 2016 (with many more in between).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Brooks added a major new element to CIW: D.C. Start<\/a>, a fall semester option for first-year undergrads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The spring semester for other undergrads and grad students is now called D.C. Connect; CIW also offers a summer term for Cornell students as well as programs for high schoolers.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All CIW participants enroll in a core class that which delves into the policy being made in the nation\u2019s capital, takes students on field trips, and more.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zach Montague \u201913, a CIW alum who covers federal courts for the New York Times<\/em>, taught a political journalism class to D.C. Start\u2019s first cohort in fall 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montague\u2019s presence, Silbey says, was a perfect example of the program\u2019s real-time ethos\u2014recalling that the reporter was once late to class because he\u2019d been covering a nearby U.S. district court\u2019s overturning of presidential executive orders on immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then,\u201d Silbey says, \u201che came right in and talked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top: CIW students at the Supreme Court in fall 2019 (James Kegley; all other images provided, unless otherwise indicated)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published May 15, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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