The Les Aspin Center — A Rich History

The Marquette University Les Aspin Center for Government was originally established in 1988 by Father Timothy J. O'Brien, Ph.D., a member of the Marquette University political science department, when he coordinated internships in congressional offices and on political campaigns for interested students. While these internships originally took place in Milwaukee, there soon developed enough interest to explore an academic program in Washington, D.C.

The first summer program took place in 1988 when 27 students joined Fr. O'Brien in Washington. Over the next several years, Fr. O'Brien would bring roughly 35 students to Washington each summer for coursework and internships on Capitol Hill. In these early years, the efforts of individuals like Congressman Gerald Kleczka were instrumental in building the program's foundation.

By 1993, the program, then called the Marquette University Washington Program, was expanded, and the first semester program was conducted. Fr. O'Brien, along with distinguished Marquette faculty members like George Reedy, journalism professor and former press secretary to Lyndon Johnson, taught courses on the United States Congress, the presidency, interest groups, and the role of media in politics.

Forever Changed, Forever Distinguished

The Washington program forever changed when Marquette hired of former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin in 1994. Following his departure from the Pentagon, Aspin decided to return to Wisconsin, the state he had represented in the House of Representatives for over 20 years, and join Marquette's faculty. The return to Marquette was fitting since Aspin had been a professor in the economics department before entering politics.

As Marquette's Distinguished Professor of International Policy, Aspin began to work closely with Fr. O'Brien to expand the university's presence in Washington and fully develop the internship program. A property for the Aspin Center was soon identified to provide classroom, office, and meeting space. The Center is now located on East Capitol Street in Washington, just five blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Unfortunately, Aspin would never get to see the fruits of his efforts. He died suddenly in May 1995, just one year after his return to Marquette. At his funeral, held at Gesu Church on Marquette's campus, it was announced that the Washington Program would be renamed in his honor. Thus, the Marquette University Les Aspin Center for Government fully came into being.

With the Aspin Center established and under the direction of Fr. O'Brien, Marquette began year round academic programming. The Aspin Center now offers programs in each academic semester as well as during two summer sessions.

Global Directions

The work of the Aspin Center, however, was not complete.

Beginning in 1995, the Aspin Center took on a truly global component to its efforts to train and educate. That year, Fr. O'Brien took a group of Marquette students to Africa as part of a course on comparative democracies. Since then, four similar courses over the winter break have allowed students to study and observe the political processes of European and African countries. European components have included London, Rome, Athens, and Dublin while the African countries visited have been Kenya and Ghana.

A tremendously successful outgrowth of this first trip was the development of an ongoing effort to educate activists in African politics. With the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Aspin Center began a series of democracy training programs for African leaders. Guided by a belief that problems that plague the continent, poverty, corruption, instability, and HIV-AIDS, must be addressed through governance and the transition to democracy, these training programs target individuals who are active in their communities and dedicated to positive change.

The first program in 1996 brought eighteen of these leaders from Kenya to study at the Aspin Center. Since then, the program has been considerably expanded. The Center currently operates two programs per year, one with participants from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and the other with participants of Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria. Close to 200 African leaders have received training at the Aspin Center.

The fruits of these programs have become readily apparent as a number of participants have been elected to local and national office in their home countries.

Recognizing Leadership and Service

One aspect of the Center's activities is its periodic honoring of distinguished public servants. In 1995, the first Marquette University Les Aspin Center Democracy Award was presented to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Since then, the award has been given to Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole and Senator Daniel Inouye. The award recognizes individuals who have made lasting contributions to the principles of democracy and principled leadership.

The Aspin Center has also bestowed its Les Aspin Center Public Service Award. Identifying those who have demonstrated a commitment to a life of service, this award has been given to former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson and Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland. In the years to come, the Center anticipates further awards presentations.

Local Intern Initiative

Although the Les Aspin Cent4er in Washington continued to flourish, it became evident that some Marquette students could not travel to Washington. As a result, in 2004, the Kleczka Internship Program was developed by the Aspin Center's first local initiative. The program was inspired by retired U.S. Congressman Jerry Kleczka and his desire to mentor future Wisconsin community leaders.

Housed on the Marquette University campus in Milwaukee, interns are selected from all fields of study and placed in city, county, and state legislative offices. Like the successful acadeic model of the Les Aspin Center for Government, the Kleczka Internship program combines hands-on internship experiences with classroom instruction to maximize the learning opportunity.

Forward

The Les Aspin Center is committed to instilling in its students the values of leadership, service, and academic excellence. In the Jesuit tradition, it strives for the full development, intellectual, spiritual, social, and professional, of those who participate in its programs. Its mission is not simply to educate, but to prepare individuals for lives dedicated to the betterment of others.