SMU students turn summer internships into a growing Washington, D.C. network

As a summer intern at American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., Max Keating is never more than a 15-minute train ride away from a friendly face. He’s among a record 42 SMU students interning across the nation's capital this summer who are building more than their résumés – they're creating a home-away-from-home Mustang community.

“You can fit 136 Washington, D.C.s inside of Dallas-Fort Worth,” said Keating, a junior studying management and public policy with SMU’s Tower Center. “When you shrink to a city that size, it’s easy to meet up with other SMU students after work, whether that’s for happy hour or to hear a phenomenal scholar speak. The students working here this summer have really formed a community that's become a support system for all of us figuring out what it’s like to live on our own.”

Internships have become the foundation for students helping one another navigate the city, expand their networks and strengthen SMU's growing presence in the nation's capital. By day, they’re gaining experience in congressional offices, think tanks, news organizations and federal agencies. After work, they gather for dinners, game nights, policy talks and Fourth of July fireworks. They swap recommendations for restaurants, share invitations to speakers around Washington and even compare notes on affordable dry cleaners.

The large presence of SMU students reflects Washington’s fast-growing role as another major hub for Mustang connections, career opportunities and alumni engagement.

I think D.C. is an untapped city for SMU students, and my hope is that we can build from this first year to create a more robust program.

Max Keating, SMU public policy major

"The work ethic SMU instills in its students is not found at many other places," Keating said. If any of our students bring that mentality to this city, they can find lots of success here."

Keating and Arianna Villarreal, a senior studying economics and public policy, are both among a small group of interns selected from thousands of applicants across the country to participate in American Enterprise Institute’s highly competitive policy internships. Villarreal participated in the think tank’s Summer Honors Academy and worked to bring their spring summit on SMU’s campus in partnership with the George W. Bush Presidential Center in February, where Keating first learned about the internship opportunity.   

“We’re all working together in arguably the most powerful city in the world, and you feel like it’s a family,” Villarreal said. “It provides a big sense of comfort. It’s been exciting to see what happens when you come together with people that share values, goals and a mission in life, all with the foundation of an SMU education.”

A student-led effort to strengthen alumni connections

With more than 1000 SMU alumni living and working in the Washington, D.C. area, Villarreal saw an opportunity for their group to build a larger network. She reached out to SMU’s Alumni Relations team, as well as the Hegi Family Career Development Center, and began planning. As a result, a July networking event brought together current interns and Washington-area alumni to strengthen connections and create opportunities for future Mustangs.

For Natalie Yezbick ’15, co-chair of the SMU D.C. Alumni Chapter and communications director for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the event is a chance to extend the same support that helped her build her own career in Washington.

“SMU alumni in D.C. have unlocked doors for countless recent graduates – myself included – and I’m excited for current students to realize in real time the value of the nationwide Mustang network,” Yezbick said. “No one gets to where they are in Washington on their own, and I encourage every student to take the opportunities for connection and career advice offered by alumni who want to give them the same hand up that we received years ago.”

What began as an informal group chat has already sparked conversations about building a more formal SMU presence in Washington. Mac Andrews, assistant director of Mustang Connections, hopes the event can become a model for similar efforts in New York, Miami, Austin, Los Angeles and other cities.

“From a university standpoint, it's important for us to strengthen and develop our regional networks in major cities across the nation,” Andrews said. “Washington is a priority as our national profile and reputation continues to rise, and a stronger presence in D.C. expands career and internship connections, increases alumni engagement, and accelerates SMU's visibility among government, nonprofit, and business leaders.”

As more recent graduates choose to move to Washington, Yezbick credits both the internships SMU students are securing during college and the University’s deliberate investment in the region – including the Hilltop on the Hill program, annual gatherings for incoming freshmen and the spring summit with the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

“All of this snowballs into a tight-knit alumni group that is ready to receive, mentor, and motivate recent graduates who choose to go from the Hilltop to the Hill and elsewhere in Washington,” she said.