THIS MONTH'S HEADLINES:
- PENN STATE BEHREND STUDENTS SPENT SPRING BREAK IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AS PART OF COURSE
- PUBLIC POLICY INITIATIVE EVENT WITH PROMINENT UKRAINIAN ACADEMIC AT BEHREND CAMPUS
- PRE-LAW EVENT ON APRIL 17
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- STUDENT GROUP NEWS
- ANNUAL POLITICAL SCIENCE DINNER
- FACEBOOK PAGE
1. PENN STATE BEHREND STUDENTS SPENT SPRING BREAK IN WASHINGTON DC AS PART OF COURSE
A group of Penn State Behrend students joined Dr. Robert Speel and Dr. Maggie Shum in Washington, D.C., during Spring Break as part of the course PLSC 177N, Politics and Government in Washington, D.C. While there, students met Senators Bob Casey, Joe Manchin, and Jon Tester, Congressman Mike Kelly, Congresswoman Summer Lee, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (a Penn State Behrend Political Science alumnus) and many of our alumni who work for the US Department of Labor and U.S. Marshals Service or on politics and public policy at the Greenberg Quinlan Rosner political consulting firm, the Former Members of Congress association, Toyota Motor North America, or the Unite Here union.
Students saw the entire memberships of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives during roll call votes on the Senate and House floors. Highlights from the House floor included two waves from Congresswoman Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez from the House floor directly to our group who was waving at her from the House Gallery and watching a speech given by Congressman George Santos on the House floor in which he congratulated Jericho High School for staging a performance of the musical Frozen. The group also visited the Supreme Court chamber and ate at the Supreme Court cafeteria with law clerks nearby, had briefings at the State Department, US Institute of Peace, and World Bank, and toured the US Capitol, the White House, the Library of Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, the Library of Congress, Ford’s Theatre, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and all the major monuments and memorials. One evening, students met with a large group of local alumni for a social reception at a local restaurant and tavern.
On Friday that week, the group met with Andrei Muraru, the Romanian Ambassador to the United States, at his home in Washington. Ambassador Muraru posted about the visit on Facebook and Twitter.
For more highlights and photos of the week in Washington, see this week’s Behrend Blog post.
2. PUBLIC POLICY INITIATIVE EVENT WITH PROMINENT UKRAINIAN ACADEMIC AT BEHREND CAMPUS
On Wednesday, April 5, at 7:00 p.m., Associate Professor Volodymyr Dubovyk from Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, will be speaking about "Russia's War on Ukraine, Why U.S. Support is Needed and Warranted,” at Federal House (near the Junker Center). The event is sponsored by the Behrend Public Policy Initiative. All are invited to attend.
3. PRE-LAW EVENT ON APRIL 17
Are you thinking about attending law school? Are you interested in law as a potential career path? Do you wonder what it is like to go to law school or to be a lawyer? If yes, please plan on attending the pre-law event on Monday, April 17th at 5:30 p.m. in Reed 114 where you can engage in a small group setting with attorneys from the Erie area and ask questions related to both law school and life as a lawyer. For more details, please reach out to the pre-law advisor, Melissa Shirey. Attorney Shirey can be reached via email at [email protected]. She also has office hours on Fridays from noon to 2:00 p.m. in 155 Kochel.
4. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Dr. Maggie Shum, Assistant Professor of Political Science, penned the report on Hong Kong for Freedom in the World 2023, a flagship publication of Freedom House which assesses each country's degree of political freedoms and civil liberties annually. Hong Kong is categorized as partly free with a score of 42/100 as the territory’s most prominent prodemocracy figures have been arrested, and political parties, major independent news outlets, peaceful nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and unions have disbanded under the provision of the National Security Law (NSL). Dr. Shum has also served as an expert on Hong Kong for the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), which has recently released the latest dataset and the 2023 report.
5. STUDENT GROUP NEWS
- The Behrend Political Society meets on Wednesdays at 5:30 PM in Reed 150. To get involved, contact President Spencer Finley at [email protected].
- Students who are interested in getting involved with Model United Nations should contact President Madison Kwiecinski at [email protected].
- To get involved with College Democrats, contact President Mallory Flesik at [email protected].
- To get involved with College Republicans, contact President Noah Esper at [email protected].
6. ANNUAL POLITICAL SCIENCE DINNER
The Annual Political Science Dinner to congratulate graduating seniors will take place in late April. Details about date, time, and location will be announced in the April Political Science Newsletter.
7. FACEBOOK PAGE
All students and alumni are invited to like the Penn State Behrend Political Science Facebook page and get updated news and find out about events.