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Government and law major Stephen Keen ’06 (Shaker Heights, Ohio) is learning first-hand about the political realm by working in the office of Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio).
Keen is benefiting from a stipend made possible through an endowment established by Franklin C. Phifer ’72. He is working on various administrative, press, and legislative projects, including researching legislation and attending hearings or briefings.Keen is one of five Lafayette students receiving a stipend for public service this summer through special endowed funds established by alumni.
Having lived in the Cleveland area throughout his life, Keen says he feels it is important to give something back to the city and maintain a strong connection to the state of Ohio and its people. He is enthusiastic about supporting the senator’s work with senior citizens and the Head Start program.
“I am also interested in learning more about Senator Voinovich’s work with the former Republic of Yugoslavia,” says Keen, who studied the politics of Eastern Europe last semester.
The student’s first experience in public service was tutoring at Northampton County Prison in Easton through a volunteer program coordinated by Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center. He spent many hours with a prisoner attempting to earn his GED.
“This rather intense experience allowed me a unique view of the life of convicted criminals who genuinely wished to turn their lives around,” says Keen. “As a result of my time at the prison, I am now deeply committed to work in public service.”
Last summer, he led a group of nine eight-year-olds as a counselor at Hiram House Camp in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, interacting with children from low-income families in the inner city of Cleveland.
“Many of these children were only able to attend camp because of a variety of different community aid programs such as the United Way,” notes Keen. “This personal experience inspired me to look deeper into many of the issues that cause poverty in our community and attempt to find solutions to these problems.”
Keen, a goalie on Lafayette’s ice hockey club and member of Chi Phi fraternity, says he appreciates the flexibility of his government and law major.
“I have the opportunity to choose which professors and which classes I can take…I enjoy the freedom to have some input into my own education,” he explains.
Keen, who is minoring in economics and business, cites small class sizes and accessible professors as some of Lafayette’s strengths.
“I have always felt that many of the professors will go out of their way to help the student, which doesn’t necessarily happen at larger institutions,” he says.