The university’s Annual Capitol Hill Alumni Reception drew more than 100 congressional staff members, elected officials and other alumni working on the Hill to the Capitol Visitor Center April 17.
One of those alumni said his attendance at the event represented something he has “never regretted.” After Rep. John “Jimmy” Duncan, R-Tenn., J.D. ’73, graduated from the University of Tennessee and applied to law school, he was accepted to both GW and Georgetown, he told attendees.
“You know which one I chose or I wouldn’t be here tonight,” Rep. Duncan joked.
“GW was a wonderful school when I went there and is an even better school now,” said the Tennessee legislator who has been in Congress for 25 years. He was on campus just last month to introduce three-time presidential candidate and former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who spoke at a College Republicans event.
“I have a soft spot in my heart for any GW graduate, so if I can do anything for you, please let me know,” Rep. Duncan told alumni.
George Washington President Steven Knapp echoed that sentiment when he urged the crowd to help fellow alumni who want to be a part of “their world.” Dr. Knapp also paid tribute to Sen. Daniel Inouye, J.D. ’52, who died in December as the second longest-serving member in U.S. Senate history, and updated alumni on university initiatives and the ways the “stature of the university continues to rise.”
More than 300 GW alumni work on Capitol Hill, including 12 members of Congress. That list includes House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., B.A. ’85; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., J.D. ’64; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., attended ’66-’68; and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., B.A. ’77. (Full List.)
One of those alumni members of Congress, Del. Donna Christensen, Virgin Islands, M.D. ’70, addressed event attendees, saying that her time at GW’s medical school was “some of the best years of my life.”
Board of Trustees member Christopher Bright, M.Phil ’03 and Ph.D. ’06, who studies foreign and defense policy issues for the House Committee on Armed Services, helped host the event and acted as MC.
“I see GW alumni daily. I work with GW alumni in my office, and I work with members of Congress who are GW alumni, and I have interactions with GW alumni in other offices,” Dr. Bright said. “I also call on GW professors and scholars for their professional assessments.”
Dr. Bright, trained at GW as a diplomatic historian, is the staff director of the committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee, which he describes as an “in-house think tank to the committee.”
“I think it’s important for alumni to connect with and meet people from GW and hear from administrators. On the Hill particularly, there’s not a lot of opportunities for GW alumni to get together informally, so gatherings like this are particularly helpful.”