Brittany Weaver, a 2014 graduate of Washington College who majored in political science with a concentration in peace and conflict studies, had a summer that will forever shape her future. She spent it in Atlanta, Georgia, as an intern at the newly opened Center for Civil and Human Rights. She was drawn to the opportunity at the Center for Civil and Human Rights because, “My interest in human rights naturally pulled me to the internship. Although it wasn’t clear what my role would be, I knew that an organization that takes the rights of all humans personally is an organization I should work for.”

She applied for a Comegys Bight Fellowship through the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. The program matches outstanding WC students with summer internships and pays students for their work. To get the internship, Weaver received guidance from WC faculty. Dr. Christine Wade encouraged her apply for the internship, and both Dr. Wade and Dr. Michele Volansky wrote her letters of recommendation.

As a marketing and communications intern at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Weaver’s job focused on communication, and, because of her hard work and dedication, she quickly became the “right hand woman” of the Vice President for Marketing and Communications. Weaver was in charge of managing the daily affairs of the Vice President for Marketing and Communications; content development, which entailed drafting and editing press releases and managing web content; draft correspondence; official statements and social media posts; and corresponding with members of local, regional, national, and international press. Weaver said, “She [the Vice President] placed a lot of responsibility in my hands and I am really grateful for that.”

Weaver said that the museum taught her a lot about herself. “Working for The Center has been an incredibly gratifying experience. I learned a lot about my career goals, personal empowerment, and my responsibility for others” and that “I feel comfortable saying that this internship has inspired and empowered me to commit fully to a life of activism and advocacy.”

Additionally, she said the internship has helped her prepare for her future. “I possess many skills that enable me to pursue a career in the [human rights] sector, should I choose to do so. I’ve also made some pretty incredible connections with many influencers in the international relations and human rights academic and activism fields.” She also said that her internship helped her “mature as an employable individual in a multitude of ways.” On top of that, she was offered a job with the Center as the Marketing Coordinator.

Before she graduated, Weaver was highly involved in the Washington College campus community. She served as the Chair of the Honor Board, was a part of the SGA, a Presidential Fellow Student Ambassador, a Student Representative on the Standing Faculty Planning Committee, a player on the Women’s Varsity Soccer team for three years, a Louis L. Goldstein Program research assistant, and a Junior Associate at the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture. She also worked in the Office of College Relations and Marketing.

—Gray Hughes ’16

Funded by several private donors, the Comegys Bight Fellowships annually support as many as a dozen outstanding Washington College students in summer positions at several leading cultural institutions. Along with National Center for Civil and Human Rights, this year’s partners hosting student fellows include the National Constitution Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Library of Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Maryland State Archives, Historic Jamestowne, and UNESCO.