Comments from a College President

An interview with William G. Durden, President, Dickinson College

TWC: Would you talk about your view of The WashingtonCenter’s internship opportunities?

Dr. Durden: In the five years since Dickinson has been a participant in The Washington Center, these internships have become pivotal opportunities for our students to engage the world as emerging citizen leaders of their generation. It is an opportunity that fulfills the vision of Dickinson’s innovative and revolutionary founder, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who sought to provide a liberal arts education for American citizens that was rigorous, centered upon the creation of new knowledge and, above all, useful for the development of the government and economy of the new nation.

TWC: Tell us about Dr. Rush’s vision?

Dr. Durden: Dr. Rush’s vision was a distinctively American approach to a liberal arts education, suited to a government dependent upon the active participation of an informed citizenry and specifically designed to prepare those who would emerge as the leaders of the new nation. When Rush founded Dickinson College in the waning days of the American Revolution, he purposely located the college a short two blocks from the county courthouse in Carlisle, PA, fully expecting students to regularly make the brief trip to observe the new government at work.

TWC: And you feel this is related to The WashingtonCenter’s mission?

Dr. Durden: The Washington Center does share with Dickinson a commitment to provide a useful education that combines hands-on experience with a rigorous liberal-arts academic foundation. In today’s complex and challenging world, The Washington Center experience is the modern-day counterpart to Dr. Rush’s notion of the county courthouse. Through its wide-ranging array of internship off erings, TWC provides students with a variety of experiences to explore the inner workings of the governmental agencies, and the public and private organizations that structure our society.

TWC: You seem to see the value of a TWC internship over the long term?

Dr. Durden: Yes, when I review the internship placements Dickinson students have experienced through our affiliation with TWC, I am impressed by the breadth of choices and opportunities that are available to them. Our students have used their Washington Center experiences to serve in the White House, Congress, the Department of Labor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Brookings Institution, etc. These students return to our campus with a realistic but buoyant faith in their country and their government. Most importantly, they return with a determination to become leaders, committed to leaving their communities, our nation and our world, a more just and compassionate place.

TWC: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Dr. Durden: I salute The Washington Center for providing students with meaningful off-campus experiences to complement and augment the liberal arts education they receive on campus. All of The Washington Center participating institutions and our nation are the ultimate beneficiaries of this commitment.

 

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