Twenty Carleton students are experiencing the great variety of Washington, DC during an off-campus program this Winter Term. The students spend three days a week an interns in a Washington workplace. This term , for example, program interns are located in the offices of House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-NC), Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), the International Trade Commission, and the Embassy of South Korea.

The students also encounter over seventy program speakers during their ten weeks in Washington. Supreme Court Justice Justice Antonin Scalia, former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), and Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) are scheduled to meet with the group. Alumni speakers include John McConnell ('86), Senior Speechwriter for President Bush, John Harris ('85), Editor-in-Chief of The Politico newspaper and website, Elissa McBride ('87), Director of Education for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Jeffrey Bergner ('69), Assistant Secretary of State for Legislation. Along the way, students visit the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, the White House complex, the Supreme Court, the State Department and the Embassies of Germany, China and diplomats from Cuba.

February 21, 2007 was a typical speaker day. The students were treated to breakfast at the National Press Club by two former presidents of that organization, Doug Harbrecht of Kiplinger publications and Rick Dunham of Business Week magazine. They then discussed the economy with Dr. Robert Reischauer, President of the Urban Institute and former head of the Congressional Budget Office (a Carleton parent). Then followed a lunch provided free at the offices of the interest group AARP, whose membership totals over thirty million -- the nation's largest. During lunch, John Rother, the organization's chief lobbyist, met with them and answered their questions. The day concluded with a meeting with reporters of Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers, to discuss the Japanese press and Japanese-American relations.

The program also features field trips to Williamsburg and Jamestown in Virginia and a visit to Annapolis, Maryland, where students visit the U.S. Naval Academy and lunch with a group of Midshipmen. The program concludes on March 13.