The Nixon Fellowship program is taking full advantage of the 2008 presidential election year hubbub to bring exciting new opportunities to Whittier College students. The newly selected Nixon Fellows will attend the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this summer. Stephen Addezio '09 will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado and Daniel Strauss '09 will attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Both will also be part of the Washington Center's National Political Convention Seminar this summer.
Two other Nixon Fellows will be selected to attend the Presidential Inauguration in January 2009. One other fellow will carry-out a self-designed program.
ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Created to honor Whittier College alumnus (Class of 1934) and former U. S. President Richard M. Nixon, the Nixon Fellowship Program is designed to prepare exceptional students for informed citizenship and service through internships, scholarship, and research opportunities that echo Nixon's successful legacy in domestic and foreign policy. Students named Nixon Fellows will develop leadership skills, increase international understanding, and experience the rewards inherent in a career dedicated to the public good.
Nixon Fellowship award amounts will vary, depending on the project scope and timeframe, and may be attached to other independent academic opportunities, such as study abroad. A distinguished board of advisors reviews student applications for the program, and recommends candidates according to the nature and focus of the proposed project, and based on established academic criteria. Nixon's former U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger, is an honorary member of this fellowship advisory board.
Current Nixon fellow (2012-2013):
Mario Obando '13
In addition to Obando's internship at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, he will be studying abroad in Santiago, Chile. In Chile, he will research various Human Rights Initiatives - for example, helping conduct historial research on the era. The trip will enable him to explore the contemporary sociopolitical and cultural tensions, create a digital story using photography to convey visual medium and using interviewing method to convey textual analysis, as well as share his findings to the Whittier community within an interdisciplinary approach.
NEXT FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY(2013- 2014)
Whittier College Nixon Fellowship (Submissions accepted in Spring 2013. Please request applications from Linda Ross, Center for Career Planning. Please submit your application directly to Linda Ross by the deadline, Fri.., March 8, 2013 by 5 p.m.)
Propose your own internship, project & budget; proposal must have some relationship to Nixon or his presidential administration.
Up to $5000 stipend
Term of fellowship: June 2013-May 2014
Past Nixon Fellows
2011-2012 Award Poonam Narewatt '14
As part of her project, Narewatt will spend the fall semester interning at the United Nation's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and will study abroad in China during Jan Term.
2010-2011 Award Melissa Samarin '11
Melissa Samarin fellowship project involved a summer study abroad experience in Russia and a semester-long internship at the Nixon Library. As part of her fellowship, Samarin conducted research in Russia and the United States on the topic of human rights, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between Nixon's presidency and the Helsinki Accords.
View the presentation on YouTube by clicking here.
2009 -2010 Awardee: Alex Tallarida '10
Tallarida chose to focus his fellowship research on the financial side of healthcare. In particular, he analyzes the benefits of health insurance and how hospital care fits into this model. Specific to his fellowship work, Tallarida delved into President Nixon’s efforts to reform healthcare in the early 1970s. For a related article he published on the Nixon Library Foundation website, he compared Nixon’s reform efforts with those of the current administration. To read Tallarida's published article, click here.
2008-2009 Awardee: Caitlin Finley '09
Finley took a summer internship with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and researched approaches the Nixon administration took relevant toward refugees from the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. She concluded these insights were applicable to refugee situations around the world today, including those resulting from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. To watch Finley's presentation about her work at the United Nations, click here.
2008 - 2009 Presidential Election Year Awardees (granted in conjunction with The Washington Project)
National Political Convention Fellow:
Steve Addezio '09
Addezio's Fellowship project revolved around the activities of super-delegates at the Democratic National Convention: "The goal was to watch the behavior of the super-delegates to see who would switch sides, as well as why and when. Based on those results, I developed an analysis of how [these key players] behaved towards the end." To read Addezio's Fellowship blog, click here. To watch Addezio's presentation on his fellowship work, click here.
Presidential Inauguration Fellows: Neslie Tumulac '11 & Teresa Baranowski '10
Baranowski '10 and Tumulac '11 traveled to Washington, DC to participate in a ten [Neslie Tumulac '11] day Presidential Inauguration Seminar conducted by the Washington Center, culminating in attendance at the formal inauguration ceremony.
Tumulac's overall project focused on the interplay of politics and the media during the Inauguration. To read Tumulac's blog, click here; to see her presentation on her fellowship work, click here.
Baranowski analyzed reactions by media and others pertaining to the presidential transition. To read Baranowski's blog, click here; to see her presentation on her fellowship work, click here..
2007 - 2008 Awardees: Hansen Hunt '08 & Nicole Greer '08
[Hansen Hunt '08, Nixon Fellow] Hunt's project capitalized on Nixon's policies toward foreign markets and international cooperation in commerce. Targeting small, local, goods-and-services in Mexico, Hunt analyzed which utilized and applied best practices, socially responsible means, and local resources; from there, he developed a website and marketing campaign to promote these small companies within the tourism market, broadening their overall consumer reach.
Greer chose to examine the lasting impact of Nixon's legacy on the nation, as well as on Whittier College. As part of her work, she interned with the Nixon Foundation and Library on a project digitizing newly declassified oral histories.
