Hillary Clinton meets with Cornell students in D.C.

Hillary Clinton, left, is greeted by Linda Jarschauer Johnson, executive director of the Cornell-in-Washington program, and students and staff members of the program outside the Old Federal Office Building in Washington D.C., April 28. Johnson presented the first lady with a red mug from the program. Susan Maldon Stregack '66

By Linda Jarschauer Johnson and Jeff Russell '00

WASHINGTON, D.C. On Friday, April 28, after lunching with Nordic heads of state at the White House, first lady Hillary Clinton met with Cornell-in-Washington students, faculty and staff members.

The Cornell contingent, which also included students participating in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations Field Study Program, walked to the White House from the Cornell Center at 2148 O Street, N.W. Since it was a warm, sunny day and Clinton had a very tight schedule, the meeting took place in the courtyard between the Old Executive Office Building and the west wing of the White House.

While the group of spring 2000 students was assembled for a photograph and waiting for Clinton to arrive, a 1985 Cornell-in-Washington alum passed by on his way into the White House. Mark Katz '86 has assisted in writing humorous material for a dozen presidential speeches, and he was headed to a meeting with President Clinton to work on the upcoming address for the White House Correspondents' dinner. It was proof positive that Washington is a small town and Cornellians are everywhere.

While waiting for Clinton, students also got a wave from U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who was departing from the White House.

During the meeting, the first lady was presented with a Cornell-in-Washington mug, and she talked with the students briefly about her own Washington experience as a summer intern for the late Sen. Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign and the invaluable connections she made there.

Clinton, who once was a Republican, told the group that her early experiences caused a shift in allegiance. "It wasn't until I went to college that I really thought about my political beliefs," the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat from New York said.

A Wellesley alumna, Clinton said she has enjoyed her time stumping around New York state.

She praised the Cornell Washington programs for giving students an opportunity to spend a whole semester in the nation's capital, and she extolled the virtue of campaign work -- even inviting students to join hers.

"She's such an amazing woman," said Clinton devotee and government major Irene Pangilinan '01. "Someday I'd like to follow in her footsteps."