Seven SJMC students are spending 11 days in Washington, D.C., culminating in the presidential inauguration, as part of an interdisciplinary January term course.
They join 18 other students, associate professor of politics Rachel Paine Caufield and assistant professor of journalism Jill Van Wyke on the Jan. 11-22 trip. Their itinerary includes visits to the White House, National Mall, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court, National Archives, Holocaust Museum, Brookings Institution and Newseum. They will also have numerous opportunities to network with alumni from a variety of professional fields.
The SJMC students are Lauren Ehrler, Noelle Smith and Katherine Fritcke, all broadcast news majors; and Larissa Wurm, Kayla Day, Kelly Tafoya and Abby Bedore, all public relations majors. They will be joined by students who are majoring in finance; actuarial science; business studies; politics; international relations; sociology; pharmacy; biology; and law, politics and society.
The trip is in conjunction with the Washington Center, which will provide daily academic programming with notable journalists, academics and public officials, including Scott Horsley and David Welna of NPR, Brian Lamb of C-SPAN, talk show host Tavis Smiley, Princeton professor Cornel West and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.
The students will also participate in the National Day of Service on Jan. 19 by volunteering at Citywide Foodbank.
Their trip will culminate in the swearing-in of President Obama for a second term on Jan. 21.
The students will chronicle their experience at www.drakeindc.com and will use the Twitter hashtag #drakeindc.
The travel seminar is one of dozens of courses offered during Drake’s first-ever January term.