{"id":98,"date":"2025-09-30T16:09:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/?p=98"},"modified":"2025-12-18T13:41:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:41:59","slug":"two-students-two-capitals-stephenson-students-learn-state-based-policy-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/2025\/09\/30\/two-students-two-capitals-stephenson-students-learn-state-based-policy-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Students, Two Capitals: Stephenson Interns Learn State-Based Policy and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Brandon Ruder \u201927 started his summer internship on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, he didn\u2019t know quite what to expect. EdChoice<\/a> was bringing in the Wabash College rising junior as a kind of experiment, as the leading public policy organization had not regularly hosted undergraduate interns. But a few months later, Brandon\u2019s internship was so successful that he will continue working part-time for EdChoice as he resumes his studies.<\/p>\n

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Brandon Ruder ’27<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Given the affinities between Wabash\u2019s Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism\u2014which provided support for Brandon\u2019s summer expenses\u2014and EdChoice, the nation\u2019s preeminent champion of educational freedom, the collaboration made a lot of sense. Indeed, when Brandon took the elevator up to the 26th floor of Salesforce Tower, he had already met Wabash alum Thomas Fisher \u201891, Executive Vice President and Director of Litigation at EdChoice Legal Advocates. Fisher initially helped connect Brandon with the organization and commented that Brandon \u201creally impressed everybody\u201d from the outset, sensing how to be both comfortable with new colleagues and ready to learn.<\/p>\n

After settling in, Brandon primarily worked with EdChoice\u2019s communications team, writing several posts on the organization\u2019s in-house blog<\/a>. Rolling up his sleeves to hit the keyboard, Brandon explored various aspects of school choice. His blog entries ranged from the success of specific programs like West Virginia’s Hope Scholarship, the nationwide increase in students participating in private school choice programs, the positive reception of microschools, and an analysis of public school funding and common criticisms of school choice.<\/p>\n

Brandon quickly grasped that working with colleagues is an iterative process: \u201cI would submit a draft and then I would get feedback\u2026 and then I just kept going until it was good.\u201d This good performance and persistence resulted in Brandon having opportunities to work in many other departments of EdChoice. Chantal Fennell, Vice President of Communications, applauded Brandon for first noticing an important new metric in school choice, that private voucher programs had grown 25% in a single year: “Fresh eyes see patterns, ask different questions, and spot the obvious truths that others might skim past.”<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandon did such a great job,\u201d commented Steve Holwerda, Executive Vice President of External Relations, who worked closely with him. \u201cHe was willing to do whatever work came his way.” Of course, ultimate success must first allow for the \u201cfreedom of individuals to make their own mistakes,\u201d as EdChoice\u2019s founder, Milton Friedman, once explained. Thus if Brandon messed up, he learned from the opportunity, leaving nothing on the table. And key to his upward trajectory was the support of EdChoice staff, who opened doors for Brandon and then kept them open: \u201cIf I had questions, I could always ask.”<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Recognizing that many think tanks do important work outside of Washington, D.C., the Institute also helped another Wabash student learn about public policy work\u2014in one of the largest and most influential states in the union.<\/p>\n

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Alex Kindig ’26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In May, Alex Kindig \u201926 flew down to Austin, drawn to the Lone Star state\u2019s strong entrepreneurial culture. As one of about two dozen interns at the Texas Public Policy Foundation<\/a> (TPPF), considered one of the most prominent and largest state-based think tanks in the United States, Alex was one of the few non-Texans in his student cohort. But he found that its strong identity was \u201cvery genuine,\u201d not abrasive or unwelcoming. \u201cThe people at TPPF are very driven and passionate about making Texas and America the freest places on earth,” Alex said.<\/p>\n

Alex worked closely with the communications team, where he engaged in various projects, including filming podcasts and creating videos. \u201cI learned a lot about video editing and communications, which are skills I can apply in various future roles.” This hands-on experience allowed him to interact with legislators and gain insights into the policy-making process, reinforcing his belief in the foundation’s impact. \u201cIt allowed me to see every side of the organization,” he explained, including TPPF\u2019s work on education policy, criminal justice, government spending and taxes, border reform, and health care.<\/p>\n

Alex appreciated the professional development opportunities TPPF organizes for their interns, such as weekly lunches with staff and a course on the \u201cPhilosophy of Freedom.\u201d Additionally, his involvement in a service project to assist with cleanup of the summer\u2019s historic flood damage showcased TPPF’s commitment to community engagement. Later, Alex was able to visit a homeless shelter in Austin, where \u201cTPPF focuses on giving individuals agency over their recovery and return to society.”<\/p>\n

Both Brandon and Alex discovered summer internships at policy organizations that offered more than just resume builders. They found mentors, developed real skills, and contributed meaningfully to causes they care about. In this way, The Stephenson Institute connects students and established policy organizations in a way that benefits everyone involved, opening the doors to future \u201cLittle Giants\u201d of Wabash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Brandon Ruder \u201927 started his summer internship on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, he didn\u2019t know quite what to expect. EdChoice was bringing in the Wabash College rising junior as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":109,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-internships"],"acf":[],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/09\/indy-austin-1024x463.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/stephenson-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}