Fellowship sends its 1st Arkansan to D.C.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve Womack announced Tuesday the creation of a Capitol Hill fellowship designed to give Arkansas college students an in-depth view of the workings of Congress.

Jordan Hale, who graduated from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith in May, is the first recipient of the John Paul Hammerschmidt Fellowship, which was named after a Republican who represented the 3rd District of Arkansas for nearly three decades.

For the next eight weeks, Hale will commute to Womack’s Capitol Hill office from dormitory housing at nearby George Washington University.

Womack, a Republican, said he hopes the fellowship will give students more of a working relationship with him and his staff than the traditional internship programs run by most congressional offices.

“I wanted to take the internship program and do a deeper dive on it,” he said.

During his first week of the fellowship, Hale, 22, said he had helped answer constituent mail and attended a “whip” meeting of the House Republican majority and a Republican Policy Committee meeting. Hale said that without the glare of the media, members let their guard down a bit.

“They were a little bit more relaxed,” he said. “It was eye-opening.”

Womack said the experience in the fellowship program would help Hale and future fellows meet potential employers in the halls of Congress.

“They’re going to have a lot of interaction with people looking for new hires,” he said.

Hale, who served as an intern in Womack’s office last summer, said he hopes that’s the case.

“My plan is to stay in Washington and find a job before the summer ends,” said the history major, who was born and raised about 10 miles from Fort Smith in Pocola, Okla.

Paul Beran, the chancellor of University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, said in a statement that he picked Hale for the fellowship because he was a campus leader.

Beran was out of the country and unable to comment.

Mark Horn, the university’s vice chancellor for university relations, said the $4,700 for Hale’s fellowship - which includes travel, a housing charge and living expenses - came through the university from private contributors. He hopes contributions can help further establish the fellowship.

“We’re going to have to fund-raise to make this a recurring thing,” he said.

Womack added, “If we do this thing right, there will be Arkansans coming out of our university system and infiltrating the Washington policy sector.”

Students interested in the fellowship may contact Womack’s office at (202) 225-4301, said his spokesman, Claire Burghoff.

Hammerschmidt, 91, for whom the fellowship’s is named, said in a phone interview that he was “flattered.”

He said he’d give Hale the same advice he gave to every staff member and intern - including Judge Susan Webber Wright, a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas - who worked for him during one of his 13 terms in office.

“My basic advice was that we work for the people of the 3rd District and for the people of Arkansas,” he said. “You’re put on this earth to serve other people.”