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Hamilton’s Spring 2016 Program in Washington group visited the White House’s Executive Office Building on March 2 for a meet and greet with alumni on President Obama’s staff, ahead of the group’s upcoming West Wing tours scheduled from March 7 to 11.

Hamilton’s Program in Washington, D.C. recently met former six-term Delaware Congressman Mike Castle ’61 at his DC office of DLA Piper. DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 30 countries. Castle also served as Delaware’s governor for two terms.

Hamilton students in the Program in Washington, D.C. recently visited The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and met with Asian foreign policy expert Michael Auslin.  AEI is a think tank dedicated to issues of government, politics, economics and social welfare.  

“Does anybody have a $5 bill?” former White House press secretary Mike McCurry P’13 asked Hamilton Program in Washington, D.C., students as they ate lunch in the conference room of Public Strategies Washington (PSW) where he is a partner. He wanted to point out that the picture of Lincoln on the $5 bill was taken in that room which was once the studio of Civil War photographer Mathew Brady.

Hamilton students in the Program in Washington, D.C., got to relax after their midterm exam last week by bowling.  But they didn’t bowl at any old alley. They headed to the Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley in the White House West Wing. The students blew off some steam the way many presidents had in the past, by lacing up their bowling shoes and hoping they didn’t get a gutter ball – which was fairly difficult because the floor was slanted.

Hamilton students on the Program in Washington, D.C. recently visited the American Enterprise Institute where they heard from resident scholar Norman Ornstein. This semester's Program in Washington is directed by Professor of Government Rob Martin. 

Wednesday, April 15 marked the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Hamilton students, participating in the Program in Washington semester, decided to spend their morning at the historic Ford’s Theatre. The visit included time in the theatre’s museum as well as attending a one-act play.

The Hamilton College Program in Washington D.C. students had the privilege of attending a dinner hosted by Tom Vilsack ’72, P’00, Barbara Stein K’72 and Christie Vilsack K’72, P’00 on April 8. Tom Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa and current secretary of agriculture in the Obama administration. Christie Vilsack is senior advisor for international education at USAID, and Stein is director of strategic partnerships for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

Hamilton’s Levitt Leadership Institute participants spent their first week of spring break refining leadership skills and networking in Washington, D.C. Expanding their networking beyond the governmental and non-profit agencies with which they met, the students seized the opportunity to gather with Hamilton alumni and fellow students participating in the semester-long D.C. program.

As the sun shone on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, six Hamilton students and their professor lined up at the security gate preparing to cross the threshold of one of the most iconic homes in our nation’s capital. More security checks followed but finally, we were permitted access. After passing through the large doors into the building we entered wide white halls with high ceilings and a grandiose stairway that immediately made a guest feel that “they had arrived.”