Close Up alumni have gone on to become leaders in government, advocacy, business, education, media, and a number of other fields. We are grateful to have these visionaries as members of our alumni network and we invite you to join if you haven’t already, to make valuable connections and share your own story with us. Check out a selection of our alumni stories and memories below!
These days, Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink spends her days working to craft and pass legislation as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 70th Assembly district in central Wisconsin. Twenty years ago, in the spring of 1993, she was exploring the nation’s capital and the federal government–and getting
As a teacher, lawyer, blogger, fundraiser, and Jeopardy! winner, Jeff Spoeri has just about done it all. His connection to Close Up began in 1983 as a high school junior visiting Washington, DC from Plantation High School in Plantation, FL, near Fort Lauderdale. After high school, he attended the College
Anita Ortiz (née Woerner) began her connection with Close Up during a week-long high school program in 1988, learning about American government in collaboration with peers from across the country. She and other participants stayed on the Gallaudet University campus, a historic and prestigious institution for deaf and hard-of-hearing students
Maya Nieto was one of over a million people who filled the National Mall on a frozen Tuesday morning in January 2009 to witness President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. During her senior year at Mercy High School (San Francisco, CA), she traveled to Washington, DC, with several schoolmates, joining more
Dr. Frank O. Mora, a 1981 Close Up alum, currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs. In that position, he oversees policy issues and defense relations involving countries in the hemisphere as well as US government funding of hemispheric defense cooperation. Dr. Mora’s fascinating career
Leon Harris may have moved to Washington in 2003 to become a news anchor for WJLA ABC7, but his first trip to DC was for a Close Up program in the spring of 1979. Arriving by bus from Akron, Ohio, Harris recalls seeing the sites of the nation’s capital for
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