| Sunday, September 5, 2010 |
Former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt announced today that he has established a foundation that will send selected college students on two-week, all-expenses-paid study trips to Washington D.C.
“Our mission is to foster a new generation of principal and civic leadership,” Nethercutt said at a briefing held this morning at Washington State University’s Academic Center at Riverpoint. “We want to foster strong leadership qualities in our graduating college students and have them return to Spokane and serve the community.”
The first group of four students will be selected from Spokane Falls Community College and leave for Washington D.C. in June.
“All Americans should have a deep understanding and appreciation of our country’s founding and history,” Nethercutt said, adding that many never – or at least not until much later in life – get a chance to visit the nation’s capital.
The Nethercutt Fellows will do more than sight-seeing.
“They will meet with lobbyists, go to hearings, go to foreign embassies and see this government in action,” Nethercutt said.
The trip to Washington D.C. is only part of the fellowship program, which also requires students to follow a syllabus covering economics, political science, constitutional law, leadership and civics. Upon their return to Eastern Washington, Nethercutt Fellows must either intern with a local business or volunteer for a local charity to complete the program.
By fall, students from all Eastern Washington colleges also may apply for the fellowship program.
The George Nethercutt Foundation is a non-partisan, 501(c)3 charitable organization funded by donations.