Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD –
*About half of our students leave this week for their summer international projects with others leaving over the next couple of weeks. This summer our students will be performing public service projects on the world’s six inhabited continents including a few who will be working on international projects in Arkansas, New York and Washington D.C.
*This past week I joined graduate school representatives from the University of Chicago, Duke (Sanford Institute), Harvard (Kennedy School and Law), University of Michigan (Ford School and Law), University of Minnesota (Humphrey Institute), Princeton (Wilson School), Stanford (MBA and Law), and Yale–among others–at the Truman Scholar Graduate Fair on the campus of William Jewell College near Kansas City. Each of us had the opportunity to greet, meet and recruit potential students from the 65 new Truman Scholars. It was a very rewarding experience, and it was particularly rewarding to hear comments like “your speaker series is the best in the country;” “I really like your emphasis on public service field work;” “your Web site is very good;” and “FRANK is the most creative school magazine I’ve seen.” Thanks to our staff for these and many other accomplishments.
*Speaking at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law graduation Saturday, I noted the growing interest in our recently established joint JD/MPS degree. If things go as expected, next year Idonia Trotter of Pine Bluff, Ark. will be the first to receive this joint degree. Idonia sets such a positive example for others here at the Clinton School, and there isn’t a better person to be “the first.”
*While on the subject of joint degrees, Clinton School student Chanley Painter, who just completed her first year at the Bowen Law School and earned very high marks there, will be among the contenders for Miss Arkansas this summer. We certainly wish her well.
*Congrats to Brent and Craig Renaud, Owen Brainard, Jack Lofton, (who will be attending the Clinton School in 2009) Jamie Moses and many others for the second and highly successful Little Rock Film Festival. The Clinton School is one of the sponsors and we will continue to do so. New in our school collection is a DVD of the documentary “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater,” which was featured at the school as part of this year’s festival. It was produced by his granddaughter, CeCe Goldwater who spoke following the showing. The big (and to my knowledge yet unreported) festival news this year was Governor Mike Beebe’s strong commitment to make Arkansas more filmmaking friendly. The Governor made that announcement at the fundraising gala at the Clinton Presidential Center.
*Another festival note: From a personal perspective, our nephew, Will Churchill of Nashville Tenn., wrote and performed the music for the film “War Eagle.” In addition to being a great guy, Will is a real talent, and I predict War Eagle will be the first of many productions for him.
*Had the opportunity to discuss the 2008 presidential election at the Associated Press Managing Editors awards banquet this weekend. Clinton School student James Mitchell of Cleveland, MS., who blogged the Iowa caucuses and the Clinton-Obama Texas debate for us, joined me. James is among the students featured in our new Clinton School film trailer which will soon be on our website and other venues.
*Though we take a break from our fast paced public program/speaker series during the summer months while many of our students are abroad, we still have events from time to time. Coming in June: The second annual Arkansas Crossword Puzzle championship competition and in July, Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift. Orientation for our new class begins in mid-August.