St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) was named a Distinguished Affiliate by The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars at the center’s recent 30th anniversary gala held in Washington, D.C. Although The Washington Center has worked with more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States and abroad, SMCM is one of only 30 institutions honored in this way. Walter Hill, a professor of political science at SMCM, was on hand to receive the award.

The award was announced by Dr. Judith Gill, chancellor of the Board of Higher Education in Massachusetts, and presented by Washington Center board chairman Ambassador Alan J. Blinken and President Michael B. Smith. “St. Mary’s College of Maryland is one of the schools doing the very best job of making available to their students the opportunities the Center offers,” Gill said. “It has far-sighted leaders at the top who support the program and an able, dedicated campus liaison who makes it work for students.”

“St. Mary’s College of Maryland is a valued and long-standing partner,” said Dr. Joseph Johnston, senior vice president at The Washington Center. “It sends capable, well-prepared students, who compete well for placements in a wide array of internships with governmental, nonprofit, business or international organizations.”

The institutions honored ranged widely in terms of type, control and location. They included Colby College, Vanderbilt University, the University of Florida and the University of Washington.

Among those attending and speaking at the gala were many friends of The Washington Center from the world of public service. Honorees and speakers included several former members of the Washington Center Board of Directors who serve or have served in prominent government positions, most notably Andrew Card, chief of staff to the President, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, and former Congressman Thomas J. Tauke (R-IA). The Washington

Center’s first alumnus to be elected to Congress, Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), was recognized as Alumnus of the Year.

The Washington Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that extends colleges’ and universities’ offerings by providing selected students of all majors internship-centered academic semester or summer term in the nation’s capital. Students complete a tailored and substantive internship, an academic course and other programming, and they receive academic credit for their work. Some 34,000 Washington Center alumni now have positions of leadership in virtually every profession worldwide.