Admissions Panel for Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute

2015 CHCI Spring Interns

For over 10 years, I, along with my colleagues from four other top schools of public affairs, have been making a concerted effort to expand knowledge of our graduate programs to a domestically diverse audience of promising young public service leaders.  Through these efforts, we partner with a number of programs, organizations and universities.  These partnerships include sponsors of several DC-based internship programs targeted toward students and young professionals of color.

In late April, our group (The Diversity Alliance of Public Policy Schools) met with the 2015 spring classes of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation interns to talk about graduate study in public administration, policy and international affairs. Both groups had many questions about the careers our degrees will prepare them for, the applications process, and how to stand out as a competitive applicant to our schools. Their enthusiasm made us feel very good about the future.

Maxwell has been pleased to see any number of former CBCF and CHCI Interns come through our MPA and MA IR degree programs. This coming summer, we will be pleased to welcome to more former CHCI fellows to Syracuse as they begin their studies in our two year joint MPA/MA IR degree.

We are also pleased to receive special commendation from NASPAA for our department’s comprehensive Diversity Plan, which we shared as part of our re-accreditation process this past year.

The Diversity Alliance of Public Policy Schools includes Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, the University of Chicago’s Harris School, Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Michigan’s Ford School and the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.

Pictured with the interns (front row, l-r): Maggie deCarlo (Chicago), Christine Omolino (SU), Marny Mitchell (HKS), Melissa Lyles (Princeton) and Jennifer Niggemeier (Michigan).