Saul McDonald '06 and Hanyen Andrew Lee '06 addressed everything from Providence's burgeoning economic development to education reform this summer, expanding their knowledge of city government and politics as fellows under Mayor David Cicilline '83.
Paul Brooks, the chief of protocol and the organizer of the 10-week fellowship program, said the program started three years ago at Cicilline's request.
The program received over 30 applications this year, but accepted only 10 fellows. "The level of their work is as if they are on staff," Brooks said of the group's performance.
McDonald, a business economics and Africana studies double concentrator, collected data on women- and minority-owned businesses in Providence and recruited the businesses to work on downtown construction projects, helping them to benefit from Providence's economic revitalization. In addition, he worked on a project to recruit women and minorities to the Providence Firefighter Academy and "learned about the way in which the city tries to build a connection with minority and women citizens," he said.
Lee worked in the law department, researching the city's public education financing in the period from 1842 to the present, a task that suited his interest in education policy and administration.
Lee said he "felt more of an obligation to take on more tasks" than if he had been volunteering his time as an intern. "I felt it was more of a job."
He accompanied various lawyers who represent the Providence school district to court. In addition, Lee attended arbitration hearings, where two parties present a dispute to an impartial third party.
"I got to see lawyers yelling at each other. It was pretty interesting," Lee said.
In addition, Lee attended two meetings with Cicilline and Joseph Fernandez, Providence's city solicitor. After interacting with Cicilline at the meetings, Lee said he formed a high opinion of the mayor. "He is a person not afraid to take risks."
Lee said that he first became interested in the fellowship after speaking with Brooks at the Brown career fair last spring. Attracted by the opportunity to work closely with local government officials, Lee decided to apply.
The application process in-volved submitting essays, a transcript, resume and cover letter. The fellows had a minimum time commitment of 35 hours per week and received a $2,000 stipend.
Both Lee and McDonald said they were impressed by the level of professionalism and dedication found among the employees of City Hall. "There are a lot of things that the government does that ordinary people don't see," Lee said.
McDonald plans to stay in close contact with the city officials he worked with throughout the program. "The relationship I formed with my bosses was more than on a work level. They were parent figures," he said.
After gaining a unique, inside view into how the city government functions, McDonald and Lee had strong opinions about the major challenges the city must still overcome.
McDonald expressed concern over the deteriorating relationship between law enforcement officials and minority groups, particularly the number of minority citizens who do not trust the officials who are supposed to protect them. However, McDonald said he believes Colonel Dean Esserman, the city's chief of police, will be a positive instrument for change.
Lee said he believes education reform is an important issue that needs to be confronted. Although it may be hard for the public schools to deal with Pro-vidence's growing diversity, Lee said that instituting more programs that target minority populations, such as English as a Second Language, could lead to vast improvements.
Brooks said he believes his and Lee's work will positively impact the city, which is the intended nature of the program. "The program gives students a chance to apply academic learning to a real world situation," Brooks said.
Despite Brown students' efforts to become involved in Providence through community service projects, Lee said he believes the University has not sufficiently integrated itself into the city.
McDonald echoed this sentiment and added that after completing the program, he will now pay more attention to local news and politics.
"I got to shed a little bit of the bubble I have been in at Brown. I was exposed to a wider city, not just College Hill," Lee said.
