Published on March 29, 2016
For the last three years, MU students like Mitchell Moonier have worked with the Missouri congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., performing public service and receiving academic credit toward graduation as part of the Civil Leaders Internship Program (CLIP) Congressional Scholar program.
“It’s a great program,” says Moonier, who now serves as the CLIP government student coordinator. “The connections I’ve made through it are very strong. It’s the little things you can’t put a price on, such as those connections, that make up the experience.”
Moonier served as a CLIP Congressional Scholar Intern for Congressman William Lacy Clay in the summer of 2013. He assisted Clay’s office in a multitude of ways, such as working in the mailroom, answering the phones, assisting in constituent relations and spearheading a Medicaid research group.
“It was really rewarding,” Moonier says. “I worked with researchers from MU, SLU and Washington University in St. Louis to compile reports on the benefits of Medicaid expansion and present them to the Missouri State Assembly. It gave me a lot of access to the congressman and his Chief-of-Staff, which proved very valuable.”
Students from various degree programs across campus, including English, Journalism, Agriculture, Political Science and Business, have worked with the state’s delegation in Washington, D.C.
The CLIP Congressional Scholars Program is a life-changing professional experience. Besides the opportunity to shape a professional profile as a representative of MU, students network with government leaders while experiencing the history and prestige of the nation.
“It is important to develop leaders for our future who understand their government and the processes behind it,” says Anne-Marie Foley, director of the MU Office of Service Learning. “The whole point of this program is to introduce students to their own power and leadership, and allow them to be the most effective service leaders.”
To learn more about the CLIP Congressional Scholars Program, contact CLIP Government Director Kirsten Pape at clip@missouri.edu, 573-884-5744 or by visiting clip.missouri.edu.