January 12, 2001

WKU Students Traveling To Washington For Inauguration

Bowling Green, Ky. - For a Western Kentucky University government class, next week's presidential inauguration is the ultimate field trip.

About 45 students will be in Washington, D.C., from Wednesday evening until Sunday for the inauguration of George W. Bush as the nation's 43rd president.

The course, Government 405: The Transition of Power, will give students the chance to see government beyond the textbook, said Dr. Saundra Ardrey, head of the WKU Government Department.

"Students will observe the orderly democratic process," Dr. Ardrey said. "Even after a tumultuous election, our system retains its balance."

The government department began planning the trip in October before November's election and its monthlong aftermath of recounts and court battles to determine whether George W. Bush or Al Gore would be the next president.

The election's historic nature is one reason about 45 students are making the trip, Dr. Ardrey said. "I've been taking these trips since 1988 and this is the largest group I've ever taken," she said.

The student group includes Republicans, Democrats and independents. "We will be analyzing George W. Bush's foreign policy, his social policy and what a Bush administration is going to mean for the country," Dr. Ardrey said.

"I'm just going to experience a part of history," said Amy Jones, a senior from Morehead. "I've learned so much about government here at Western that I wanted to see it in action."

Jones and the other students must attend certain events in Washington, complete a packet of required reading and create a project that reflects their experience on the trip to earn three hours of course credit, Dr. Ardrey said.

"We can teach the transition of power in the classroom, but it is different when they experience it themselves," she said.

Stephen Barnett, a graduate student from Versailles, agreed that experience is the best teacher.

"Dr. Ardrey always stresses in her classes that what you learn from the textbooks and lectures can't be completely understood until you apply it to real life," Barnett said. "She will certainly take this trip and make it into an experience in which we'll be applying the information she has provided to us into to the processes that we'll be seeing in Washington, D.C. There's really no better way to learn something than to immerse yourself in it, and that's exactly what we'll be doing when we go the inauguration."

While next Saturday's inauguration is the focus of the trip, students also will meet with members of Kentucky's congressional delegation, hear from representatives of conservative and liberal think tanks, attend other inaugural activities and visit some of Washington's historic sites.

"This is a trip to learn more about the transition of powers," Barnett said. "Dr. Ardrey has set up the experience to see both conservative and liberal views of what we can expect the next four years under our new president."

For more information, contact Dr. Saundra Ardrey at (270) 745-4558.