Gaven Vogt ’24 — First off, I would like to thank Wabash College and the Wabash Public Policy for funding my internship this summer and Dr. Lewis McCrary for introducing me to the WPPP funding and showing me the opportunities available within the Political Science department at Wabash College. Without them and their generosity, this internship would not have happened. I would also like to thank Congressman Jim Banks and his team for allowing me to intern with them this summer and making me feel welcome and a part of their team, specifically Congressman Banks, Landon Porter, Preston Wright, David Keller, and Tinisha Weigelt.
I spent most of my time this summer with Congressman Banks’ campaign team. My role on this team included many jobs that allowed me to experience what it takes to be on a successful campaign team, even in an off-year. One of my roles on this team was to reach out to Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District County chairs and compile the dates of their individual county’s events, such as parades and fairs. From there, it was my role to place each event’s information into a spreadsheet so that each member of the team was aware of the upcoming events. I then was in charge of reaching out to potential volunteers to represent Congressman Banks at these events. Each event typically required 3-5 volunteers as well as myself to be appropriately staffed. These tasks taught me how to run a successful campaign and communicate and work with a team effectively, and even though it may be an off-year, no one cared and was on the ball of making sure people were going to re-elect Congressman Banks.
This summer, another one of my roles was to work and handle some of the donation’s sides of operations. This included mailing out thank you letters to donors of the Congressman and managing the money that would come in at events and through the mail, and working at multiple dinners and a couple of breakfasts. We would invite big donors from around the 3rd District to come and eat with Congressman at Summit City Grille at these events. My role was to help set up and tear down and check guests in and handle donations they brought with them. During these dinners, Congressman would talk about where he saw the GOP going in the near future, thoughts and opinions on \current legislature, and party goals to regain some of the lost seats from this past election. This side of the internship taught me how to keep your supporters happy and re-electing you, which Congressman Banks has done. As well as teaching me what it looks like to be a leader in the community and giving back to it.
Once again, I would like to thank those who have invested in me this summer to give me an opportunity that I will carry with me into my Political Science field of study and life after school. The knowledge and first-hand experiences I was provided have given me a great insight into how a future in this career path would look.
