Six CSB and SJU students participating in the John Brandl Scholars program

Six students from the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, and Saint John's University, Collegeville, are participating in the John Brandl Scholars program.

John E. Brandl was a 1959 graduate of Saint John's. The program celebrates Brandl's lifelong commitment to mentorship and scholarship in higher education, public policy and politics.

The competitive, merit-based program funds summer internships in public policy and leadership development activities. Three Brandl Scholarships were awarded to students in the CSB/SJU Washington, D.C., Summer Study Program, one funds a student internship at the Citizens League in St. Paul, Minn., and two others fund public policy internships anywhere in the world.

Recipients of the Brandl scholarships include:

• Bridget Cummings, a CSB junior political science major from Chaska, Minn., is interning at the Department of Justice in the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington. She attends congressional hearings and briefings and prepares written and oral summaries. In addition, she prepares and organizes material for department witnesses testifying before Congress.
• Andrew Hovel, an SJU senior economics major from McFarland, Wis., is interning with the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis unit of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington. In his capacity as an intern at the FCC, he is charged with research duties to gather, analyze and report on data and policies relevant to the office's work.
• Rachel Mullin, a CSB senior political science and history double-major from Humboldt, S.D.,  is interning in Sarajevo, Bosnia -Herzegovina, with a group called KULT. KULT's mission is to advocate, build and strengthen organizations that provide opportunities for youth. While in Sarajevo, she also conducts field research for her political science honors thesis on the role of education in genocide.
• Stephanie Pinkalla, a CSB senior political science major from Eagan, Minn., is interning at the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington, where she works in their Energy and Environment office. She conducts research on CAP's priority environmental issues, crafts memos and other research reports and works closely with a senior fellow on a larger research project.
• Katie Spoden, a CSB senior environmental studies and political science double-major from Brooklyn Park, Minn., is interning at the Citizens League in St. Paul. She focuses on working towards solutions to make Minnesota's electrical system more efficient with a group of Minnesota business leaders, electric companies, environmental interests, political figures and interested citizens.
• Edwin Torres, an SJU sophomore history and political science double-major from San Pedro, Calif., is interning for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Los Angeles. He assists with valuable research on all of the current cases. Research includes finding other pertinent cases, developing demographic information and identifying and reaching out to like-minded community stakeholders.