The Washington Center is pleased to announce that Cokie Roberts, political commentator for ABC News and National Public Radio, is confirmed to emcee The Washington Center’s Gala 2012: Celebrating 50,000 Alumni, on Monday, October 1, 2012, at the National Building Museum.

The Chicago Alumni Regional Community hosted a beautiful reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Sixty alumni from all over the country gathered for an evening of art, food, entertainment and networking for the museum's popular "First Friday" event.

During the event, alumni enjoyed:

The Washington Center welcomed nearly 400 new alumni into their network of over 50,000 worldwide at the Residential and Academic Facility. The two hour celebration brought TWC staff, alumni, spring 2012 interns, and members of the board together to celebrate the achievements of the program throughout the last 15 weeks.

The event featured speakers such as:

Fall commencement was a memorable event for TWC's fall interns. It was the day they united with their peers to celebrate the memories they began creating in August.

Alumni Speaker

Regina Davis Izaguirre, a TWC Governors Program alumna (who is also married to a fellow TWC alum), celebrated the opening of her new art exhibit, "Departed Souls." If you love art and would like to go support the talented and self-educated artist, Regina's paintings will be on display at Piola through June 8th, 2012.

[View photos of the event on our Flickr channel]

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) celebrated its third annual alumni holiday party with more than 100 alumni and many current TWC students. The event took place on the second floor of TWC headquarters.

In addition to a live band and hors d’oeurves, invitees enjoyed a warm welcome from TWC President Mike Smith. He reflected on his time at TWC, celebrating the 1,600 students who completed internships or seminars over the last year as well as the milestone of more than 50,000 alumni since the organization’s founding.

Now more than ever, students have a hard time honing in on where they want to work and what they want to do for the rest of their lives. And now more than ever, a new generation of Americans is having an extremely difficult time. This problem is prevalent among students whose interests fall within the social sciences, especially those who pursue a degree without a defined specialization.

The benefits of experiential opportunities

Starting a brand new internship at The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminar (TWC) is exciting for any new student. Whether that student is traveling domestically or internationally to participate in either a 10-week or 15-week internship, a few things are always guaranteed:

The Washington Center was featured in "Grooming a new generation of leaders," an online article by The Hill.

The piece features two alumni, Geoff Schaefer ('07) and Katie O'Connell ('05), who reminisce about their days as interns in Washington, D.C. Both alumni credit The Washington Center with helping them find tailor-made internships pertaining to their interests and helping them fill their resumes with experience that led them to careers they're passionate about.

[Read the full article]

TWC's Alumni Networking Reception took place at the Residential Academic Facility. The networking event included a diversity of alumni and current spring interns, in addition to one of the most unique speakers that TWC has ever hosted: matchmaker and 1984 TWC alumna, Christie Nightingale, who runs Premier Match. Premier Match is an upscale, matchmaking service with locations in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

Career Path