Washington needs a new strategy

In a recent Ivy newsletter, former lecturer and former inspector general of the CIA Frederick Hitz '61 described a "nationwide calamity facing federal government recruiters in elite colleges." If Princeton students are to pursue public service, he wrote, then "they want to be assured that their efforts will make a difference, and they believe that is more likely in a nongovernmental organization like Doctors Without Borders or Care."

However, as Hitz explains, this coming generation of Princetonians in the post-9/11 world have shown a much stronger inkling for government service. The number of concentrators in near eastern studies from last year has more than tripled, and the number of Princetonians exploring government internships is frantically rising.

The University, in an ill-disguised attempt to entice the eager young minds of our generation to enter into the federal government, founded the Princeton in Washington program a number of years ago to, "to help students interact with alumni and socialize with fellow Princetonians while in . . . D.C. for the summer."

This past summer, having secured an internship in a political consulting firm, I, along with hundreds of Princeton students, descended on Washington for a summer of political hobnobbing.

While my internship was an interesting but mundane experience, it was the Princeton program that truly made my summer memorable. In a spectacular precursor for what was to come, the opening event was held at Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist '74's house, where the Senator greeted and chatted with each of the 250 Princeton students that attended.

Over the course of the summer I had a tour of the West Wing, sat in the Pentagon while Donald Rumsfeld '54 talked to us about Abu Ghraib, took "NSC 100" and "NSC 101" from top officials in the National Security Council and talked about changes to the structure of the FBI with Director Robert S. Mueller '66. In addition, I met and talked with a number of senators and congressmen and discussed foreign policy and careers with diplomats and CEO's.

While this was a valiant and impressive attempt to lure Princeton students into the desperate arms of government service, behind the political pomp and circumstance, I was ultimately left feeling our generation's inescapable distrust and disillusionment with today's political world.

From those speakers whom I asked about career choices, the answer was always the same: Find something else to do for 20 years, then come to Washington. Certainly not the "jump-in" attitude that I yearned and expected to hear.

When I finally asked an NSC official if he had enjoyed his time in government, he paused, then equivocally said "yes," then abruptly added "but I want my kids to go into the private sector." For someone who started the summer passionate about the political process, the world of idealistic government work for which I had come to admire so much, seemed far from reality.

In what I am so slowly beginning to understand, I have but these four fleeting years of college to toy with the intangible and explore the exciting possibilities that await me beyond FitzRandolph gate. As a Princeton student with an idealistic love of the political world, this past summer I got to toy with the idea of working in the highest levels of our government; shaping seemingly immalleable foreign policy, restructuring the U.S. federal budget; giving a press conference from the White House podium.

However, in a time when bipartisanship is an elusive dream and political slander has reached an ugly height, one has to ask what this generation is being offered in government service. I challenge the government and the Princeton administration, while there is still time, to step up and try and mend this tattered relationship. If America is really intent on getting the "best and brightest" to enter government work then not only does it need to be more accessible, but the administration needs to go beyond a speaker series and vigorously promote and fund a wide range of internship opportunities across the scope of the government.

In the mean time, however, with investment banks daily making their recruiting trips to our campus, extending lavish promises by the dozen, government should really rethink its own recruiting pitch. Instead of wearily proffering a world of martyred ethics and unchangeable bureaucracy, the government should instead be touting its own trump card: the possibility to shape the world and all that's in it. Chris Berger is a history major from London. You can reach him at cberger@princeton.edu.