Students in Action

Learn more about the incredible experiences and opportunities offered to our students - past, present, and future!

Meeting with a Senator

We met US Senator Joe Manchin who was kind enough to stop and talk with us. Sen. Manchin is, in some ways, the most powerful senator on Capitol Hill as he is the swing vote in an equally divided Senate. He’s the Democrat Democrats love to hate - but love him or hate him, he’s a very big deal.

US Senators, Space Weather, and TikTok

Students visited US Senate office buildings. After an orientation of the three buildings, we began our tour at the Senate Caucus Room where an event on Space Weather was occurring. We talked with officials from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who explained what space weather is and why we should care - hint, it includes solar flares that can fry our electrical grid and shut down everything from GPS to satellite communications. They then explained what they’re doing on Capitol Hill.

With officials from NOAA who kindly explained Space Weather to us and the role Congress plays in funding research and preparation for extreme Space Weather events.

Afterwards, we stopped by to chat with the Fox News team reporting from the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building. They spent almost 20 minutes chatting with our students and then went live to air with a story about TikTok!

Litigation at the Supreme Court

One of our guest speakers was Wally Carson, who took us on his journey to litigating one of the most important religious freedom cases all the way up to the US Supreme Court. It was terrific to get a first-person view from someone who has stood before the nine Supreme Court justices and made the case for our liberty - and won the case 8 - 1. His willingness to answer questions, explain the process and interact with students one on one was greatly appreciated.

That afternoon, students were able to visit the Supreme Court themselves! Students had a good look around the Supreme Court, taking specific note of Moses with the Ten Commandments on the east side at its apex.

Courtroom Battles at the Federal District Court

Students visited the Federal District Court where we observed attorneys battle it out over a broken contract. We were received like visiting VIPs by the Court’s manager, and Judge Messittee even welcomed us to his courtroom. At the end of the hearing, the Judge Messittee – who is formable and doesn’t suffer fools (as we observed during the hearing) stayed on and invited students to enter through the doors into the court’s bay to address the court with our questions as he, the attorneys who had just argued their motions, the court clerks, the judge’s law clerk and his two law student interns listened on. I was so proud of the four students who had the courage to come through the gates, and stand up to the same podium as the attorneys use, and ask intelligent and insightful questions that the judge took very seriously. Sadly – no photos allowed in the court room. But happily, lots of photos afterwards -

American Democracy and the FBI

FBI Special Agent Mike White (retired) was the first law enforcement agent on the scene of the Pentagon on 9/11. He busted spies – including Robert Hanson (one of the most damaging spies in the history of the US). He busted down doors in pursuit of terrorist suspects. And he busted into our class telling us about the FBI, where it fits in the US Government, the challenges it faces and ideas of how to address them. It was a serious presentation about threats to American democracy and how the FBI aims to prevent them – and how it struggles not to become a threat to American rights in the process. And he brought a little show and tell with him. Did the class enjoy meeting him? Look at the photos and make your own assessment -

Succeeding on the Hill

Ashley Etienne served in President Obama’s White House as communications director for the President’s cabinet, she then served as communications director for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and as communications director for VP Harris. Now she is a CBS news political contributor. Her presentation was deep, very honest and amazing in every way. Not only did she give a clear eyed view of how Washington really works, she was honest about how to succeed in a career in the heart of government. Hint: working exceedingly hard, learning the fundamentals and executing, taking calculated risks, and putting yourself where the action is the hottest. How hot? She ran the Speaker’s war room during the first impeachment of President Trump – it doesn’t get much hotter – or more pressure – than that.

Segregation and Civil Rights

Monday the dawn rose like any other day, but with a difference. Dr. Chris Banks arrived and took over the class. He began with a lecture on our rights, covering the First Amendment and the march of civil rights. Dr. Kisunzu, the Provost of WAU, joined us and talked about growing up in a small segregated town in the rural south, and how she saw progress through her life time. She gave us a first person understanding that only someone who had lived through the experience can provide. That afternoon, we went to the African American museum to learn more about civil rights in America.

Innovation at NASA

Our students went to NASA Goddard to meet Paul Geithner, who recently was honored with NASA’s highest award. Paul was lead engineer on the Webb Space telescope before being promoted to be one of the projects most senior leaders. He showed us the inner workings of NASA, explained how it fits into the US Government, the utility of their work and what they have planned next. Our students walked the floor where NASA builds and tests its remarkable machines.

45 Minutes We'll Never Forget

Our US Government class was heading to Capitol Hill Thursday, and I did what I often do – check various sources for what is happening on the day. I saw the Supreme Court was meeting at 10 AM, so I made the call to leave earlier than planned to see if we could witness some history. On the way I said a silent prayer that God would let us get in this time. He had better plans…

When we arrived, once again the Supreme Court was closed to visitors (despite the website saying it was open to the public!). So once again, we weren’t allowed in. But then something amazing happened – the Court released a very important religious liberty case that the Adventist Church has worked on for many years – it was decided 9-0 in support of religious freedom in the workplace (note: it wasn’t a complete win but it greatly improves the way courts analyze work placed religious freedom cases generally). Then we were also there when the Court struck down race-based affirmative action in many circumstances. We were at the Supreme Court for only about 45 minutes and all this history happened right then. Is our God amazing? He certainly is.

Our students, Dr. Banks and myself were interviewed by many journalists from all the major newswires, and a number of TV outlets – including Voice of America – and for news stations from as far away as the Czech Republic! Stories with photos of our students in their bold WAU t-shirts were published all the way to India. Dr. Banks was interviewed by a number of sources and ended up in USA Today.

We hoped to witness history – instead we became part of history!

Here are a few samples of articles:

https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view/upi/9f3da749b333e4162f60aa4d96fdfca7/Supreme-Court-Releases-Decisions-On-Affirmative-Action-and-Religious-Freedom/?fbclid=IwAR2rpcs0dIFJrci3WAygoSjRynvZlyW_XhRelYkiEXTIZTro1H5Qu5WGlfw

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/29/affirmative-action-business-diversity/

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4073706-black-caucus-says-supreme-court-has-thrown-into-question-its-own-legitimacy-with-affirmative-action-ruling/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/29/supreme-court-harvard-unc-affirmative-action-decision/70369658007/

https://www.goshennews.com/news/national_news/supreme-court/image_1bf01eda-77ca-59ad-a7e6-bedd5a54b622.html

Paid Internships

After our 45 minutes at the US Supreme Court being the focus of the world’s media, we went on a tour of the US Capitol, and then met with Senator Van Hollen’s education team. All on the one day. The Senator’s team invited our students to apply for paid internships in their office. What a remarkable opportunity!

Government in Action

Scholarships for our Students

Washington Adventist University came to class and handed out generous scholarships. Our students are exactly the right kind of students that colleges want. No matter what field students are interested in, innovative learners with the fantastic experiences and achievements they've earned through the Byington Center will always be valuable in the classroom and in the workplace!

Have you ever tried to cut $1 trillion in spending? Let me tell you, it’s harder than it looks! Our class was randomly divided into four teams: House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats. And then they were given the most difficult job in Washington: Cut $1 trillion from our national annual deficit (the amount we are spending as a nation that exceeds the amount we’re collecting in taxes). Those annual deficits become part of our national debt. And you know who will be dealing with that debt their whole lives? Our students.

If that wasn’t reason enough, the assignment was set up to give everyone the incentive to not only make a deal, but make a deal that was in favor of their party’s priorities. If no deal was reached, everyone’s grades suffer. If the deal was weighted to Republican priorities, Democrats would lose points. If the other way around, Republicans would lose points.

At the beginning of the week there was genuine frustration. “It’s impossible!” I heard a few times. And as the teams got down to business, it was rough at times. Frustration grew. Exasperation. Desperation! There’s not enough time! It’s too complicated! We must raise taxes, but Republicans are blocking us! We have to cut spending, but Democrats won’t do it! This is NOT going to work!

But on Friday, the Senate reached a deal. And then the House. But… they were very different. So, just like in Congress, the two bills went to a committee made up of representatives from the House and Senate and were reconciled into a compromise bill. At 4:45 PM Friday, the committee presented their bill to our full House and Senate. It’s not pretty. Lots of people will loath the compromises and no one will be happy. But the bill passed the Congress unanimously – with the Republicans getting some of their core priorities and the Democrats some of theirs, and no one getting everything. Everyone cheered – most of all me because I was proud of the class. They struggled with the problem some people say couldn’t be solved. They could do it. And they did! And if they can do it…

Here are our legislators in action. It’s one thing to read about how Congress works, it’s quite another to be the Congress! I hope this lesson about how our legislative processes work will stick with them for life – and I have a hunch it will!

Media Literacy in a Time of Uncertainty

The final week assignment of our Summer class was a persuasive essay, and presentation. Followed by tough questions. The first presentation was Wednesday, a couple more on Thursday and ten on Friday. The good news? We had a wide variety of topics covered from changing our voting system to preferential voting (Google it is you don’t know what this means - it’s very interesting!), to increasing funding to detect and prepare for space weather events. Firearm regulation, religious freedom, abortion, updating identity and fraud detection systems in the SNAP program, new initiatives to reduce homelessness, and more. Each presenter included one erroneous fact and we all had to guess what it was - to keep us engaged but also to reinforce the importance of being a critical listener in an era where false statistics and biased reporting are being weaponized on all sides to win power and influence.

Maryland Governor and Civil Service

As you may know, Maryland has a new governor - Wes Moore, and one of his signature initiatives is a service program that he hopes to be available for all MD high school graduates. The Governor’s pick for Secretary of Service & Civic Innovation came and presented to our class, along with his colleague Dr. Conner.

Civil Rights and Antisemitism

Students heard a guest lecture from Richard Foltin, a Harvard law graduate who has worked for years on civil rights and combatting antisemitism. He told us the compelling story of how his father and mother escaped the Holocaust. It involves unmitigated evil, immense courage, a compassionate German who saved his father’s life, his mother passing as German and running guns to partisans, and much more. It’s a love story that’s worthy of a movie. But underneath the drama and romance is the terrible toll caused by hatred combined with government power.

Religious Freedom and the Law

Liberty magazine Editor Bettina Krause allowed us to photograph her when she came to present to our Summer course on religious freedom law and the Adventist struggle to preserve and grow it. Sunday laws are unconstitutional, right? Not according to the US Supreme Court. Adventists couldn’t make a difference? Oh yes we have and we still are! What about the conflict between gay rights and religious freedom rights? She covered that too. Think religious freedom is a boring, dead issue? You wouldn’t after listening to Bettina.

Students in Action

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