Networking Night at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The event welcomed guests from the public, private and nonprofit sector employers to network with School of Public Policy students, faculty and alumni. Those who attended were able to develop and deepen connections with experts in education policy, energy policy, environmental policy, health policy, international development, international security and economic policy, management, finance, leadership and social policy.
SPP Dean Robert C. Orr welcomed the crowd and acknowledged the new public policy undergraduate students who were in attendance. “It is very exciting to see our school growing both at the undergraduate and graduate level,” he said.
Orr went on to say that the School is trying to grow in other ways as well, including increasing its presence in local Maryland government. “We’re trying to honor our Maryland roots and systematically build ourselves into the state in many ways.”
Addressing the alumni in the room, Dean Orr said, “Having our alums here is not just a recognition of the great job we did while you were at the school and what you are doing to advance the policy world itself, but the connections between our current students and our alums are strong and getting stronger.” He then thanked the School of Public Policy Alumni Board for their help in pushing the school forward.
In closing, Orr discussed the new SPP building. “The new building is a sign of what’s new, but also a sign that we have arrived,” he said. “We’ve had a great school for a long time, but our place on campus is growing. Policy is getting woven into the fabric of the University of Maryland, and that’s really how it should be.”
President of the SPP Alumni Board Amy Fischer also addressed the audience. “One of the board’s goals is to make sure whether you graduated two months ago, two years ago, or 20 years ago, that the School of Public Policy still feels like home to you,” she said. “
Fischer also encouraged alumni in the room to join the board. “We want to make sure that the School of Public Policy is not just a line on your resume, but it is a family and a continued resource for your continued education, for your career growth and for your ability to make the School of Public Policy better and better for current students and prospective students.”