Students Lobby for U.S. Institute of Peace

A group of Dickinson students headed by senior Mai Fernandez, took a Student Senate sponsored bus to Washington, D.C., in order to lobby Senators for the U.S. Institute of Peace. After lunch in the Vandenberg Room in the U.S. Capitol, students received a briefing on lobbying techniques. Following presentation by alumnus Eric Cox, the legislative director of the Campaign for U.N. Reform, and Senator Spark Matsunaga (D-Hawaii), students began lobbying, hitting targeted offices in teams of two. Students tried to convince senators to support the Institute of Peace. While sixteen million dollars had been allocated, the Institute only received four million.