Four Texas Tech Students Selected for Congressional Internships

Written by Cory Chandler

Four Texas Tech University students are interning this spring in congressional offices in Washington, D.C., as part of a College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources congressional internship program.

Victoria Gartman, a sophomore environmental conservation of natural resources major from Austin, is working for Rep. Kay Granger, while Kendra Pond, a junior animal science major from Wolfforth, is in the office of Rep. Michael Burgess.. Stephen Sheppard, a junior wildlife management major from Grapevine, is working for Rep. Mike Conaway.

Brody Berry, a senior agricultural economics major from Texhoma, Okla., is serving with the House Committee on Agriculture, which oversees legislation involving farms and farming, forestry, nutrition, rural electrification and watersheds, rural development and school nutrition.

CASNR’s Associate Dean for Academic and Student Programs Norman Hopper said the government internship program is a superb way for students to gain real-world political experience.

“The experience gained during a semester as an intern is invaluable to the students,” he said. “They not only learn the legislative process but also about the world.”

More than 70 students have served as interns since the establishment of the program in 1998. CASNR’s Government Internship Program gives students the opportunity to work in congressional and legislative offices both in Washington, D.C., and Austin.

In order to be eligible for the internship, students must have completed 30 hours of course work and have a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.75 at the time of the interview and internship. Numerous donors have been instrumental in making CASNR’s Government Internship Program possible, including the Texas Corn Producers Board and Texas Peanut Producers Board, which originally established the program.

Others that have joined in supporting the program are Plains Cotton Growers, Texas Corn Growers, Texas Peanut Producers, Texas Wheat Producers, Dan Taylor, Texas Farm Bureau and South Texas Cotton and Grain.

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CONTACT: Norman Hopper, associate dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2808, or norman.hopper@ttu.edu