Greetings,
The Public Policy & International Affairs Program summer was full of activities, and we're happy to share this update with you. On July 15, 2016, on the George Washington University Campus, PPIA celebrated 35 years of increasing the broad representation of students pursuing advanced degrees
in public and international affairs, and the diversity of leaders working in the private, public, and non-pr
ofit sectors. Over 200 alumni, PPIA supporters, public policy and international affairs graduate school leaders attended the Anniversary Gala. Participants heard from keynote speaker, Benjamin Jeal
ous, former President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and from Jennifer Pinckney, the widow of Reverend and State Senator Clementa Pinckney (Princeton PPIA,'94). This year, PPIA renamed our alumni achievement award after Reverend Pinckney. I would like to extend my gratitude to the PPIA Alumni Planning Committee, and the generous graduate conso
rtium member schools that sponsored the Anniversary Gala. This summer, the PPIA Board of Directors welcomed to the Board three exceptional alumni who have demonstrated commitment to the PPIA mission and are leaders in their respective fields: Richard Corral, Sekou Kaalund, and Dorene Martinez.
Our Public Service Weekends have taken off successfully. Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz College hosted its first Public Service Weekend July 29 - July 31and welcomed sixty-five undergraduate students to their campus in Washington D.C. During the conference, students learned about opportunities in public service and about the graduate school admissions process. The Public Service Weekends continue into the fall with two additional weekends hosted by Indiana University Bloomington, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Binghamton University. The Public Service Weekends have been made possible through our partnership with the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA), as we work to increase the pipeline of underrepresented students in public policy and international affairs.
As we transition to the fall our focus has shifted to recruitment for our PPIA Junior Summer Institutes. Students selected for the 2017 Junior Summer Institute Fellowship cohort will study at one of our five host campuses: Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, and the University of Minnesota. We hope that you will encourage high achieving juniors from diverse backgrounds to consider
this opportunity. As the PPIA program celebrates 35 years, our goals are to increase the number of graduate school members in our graduate school consortium, implement strategies to measure PPIA's impact, extend our reach to more students, and identify resources that will allow PPIA to advance in our mission of increasing diversity and leadership in public service. Many thanks for your continued engagement and support of this vitally important program.
Sincerely, Eric Schwartz Chair, PPIA Board of Directors Dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
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