The Jan. 20 presidential inauguration made history. President Donald Trump’s second inauguration became the first to be attended by foreign leaders, the first featuring the presence of tech entrepreneurs and billionaires and the first to inaugurate a convicted felon.
A group of Drake University students became part of the historical processes of political participation and civil education as they explored the city of Washington D.C. over J-term. This group, led by political science professor and Co-Executive Director of the Ron and Jane Olson Institute for Public Democracy Rachel Paine Caufield and head of the Adams Leadership Institute Kristin Economos, allowed students to gain firsthand insight into the political processes of the federal government.
“I’ve been doing this [trip] every other year since 2013 and the goal is to give students the opportunity to get to know what it means to be in D.C. So many people villainize D.C. as an idea that lives in their heads that it’s important to go and experience it on your own terms,” Paine Caufield said.
Students visited the Capitol building, took a night monument tour and saw former President Jimmy Carter lying in state so that the public could pay respects to the former president. While it was originally planned for the class to attend the inauguration in the National Mall, the ceremony was moved inside to the Capitol Rotunda because of freezing temperatures. As a result, students were not able to attend in person.
But Morgan Ryan, a Drake student who participated in the D.C. J-Term, said that the change in plans wasn’t all bad.
“I think our experience on the day of the inauguration was pretty pleasant. We had a breakfast spread. Some were doing puzzles,” Ryan said. “We had activities and coloring pages while watching the inauguration on television.”
Ryan discussed the significance of the inauguration to the class.
“Many people had been hoping to experience this in person — it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of us,” Ryan said.
Ryan also reflected on her personal highlight of the trip, a night trip to the Capitol arranged by Representative David Young, who frequently works with Drake and Paine Caufield.
“The most cool thing was that we got to go into the Capitol building, at maybe 10 p.m. at night, and just walk around the chamber. It just felt really magical. We got to roam around, sit in the chairs and see the intricate paintings on the walls and ceilings,” Ryan said.
Nora Miller, another student who spent her J-Term in D.C., discussed her impressions of that night via email.
“It was a surreal experience to be in the building on our own and think about all of the important people who walked the halls before us,” Miller said.
Outside of the Capitol, students spent time meeting with Drake alumni and learning about working life in the city.
“It’s competitive, and not necessarily about what you can do and what you have done, but it’s about who you know and your connections,” said Hannah Goldsmith, another student on the trip.
Ryan also explained that the experience demonstrated the power of connections within the Drake community.
“One takeaway I have is the strength of the Drake Alumni network and how many people that are from Drake that are out there doing great things and how much they want to help each other,” Ryan said.
Paine Caufield touched on the value the alumni network has to provide examples for current students.
“These people sat in the same classrooms, with the same professors, and came from the same small towns are doing the work in D.C., and I hope that students start to envision all that’s available to them,” Paine Caufield said.
During meetings with those who lived in D.C., students learned that partisanship in the city isn’t quite what it seems to be in mainstream media.
“Every person, every official, every agency honed into [the idea that] it was far more bipartisan than you think and the media only covers the fighting. There truly are Republicans and Democrats working with each other and they’re friends outside the workplace,” said another student on the trip, Madilin Vrieze.
Goldsmith talked about the diversity of political opinions, educational backgrounds and professional experiences they learned about in D.C., and how it helped them visualize their future.
“There is a place for me there too. It really opened my eyes to all the possibilities for working and having a future there,” Goldsmith said
Vrieze took away the value of personal happiness and being truly satisfied in working life.
“You really just have to do what makes you happy, whether that means you’re working a paycheck-to-paycheck job, or working for a nonprofit, or if you quit one job and move to the next because it makes you happy,” Vrieze said.
Paine Caufield wanted students to understand that the city and the people in it are just as human as anyone else.
“We spend a lot of time in political science and American politics reading about the people and institutions that make decisions and I think it’s easy to forget how human it is,” Paine Caufield said. “Going to D.C. . . . gives you a very different perspective on the place and the people that animate our political system.”
Vrieze reflected on the importance of tolerance after her experiences in the highly politicized capital of America.
“Just because someone has a different political ideology than you does not mean that they’re coming from a place of ill will, they just have different experiences than you,” Vrieze said. “You shouldn’t write people off because they view something differently.”
Paine Caufield also thanked Economos, Young, Olson Institute co-Executive Director Scott Raecker, and journalism professor Amy McCoy.
“It’s a group effort and every single one of those people contributed immense amounts of time and energy for the experience for the students,” Paine Caufield said.
More information regarding the J-term trip, including student blog posts, pictures and videos, can be found at drakeindc.org.
