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Congress to Campus brings the USA to UEA
By: Communications
Staff and students recently enjoyed an audience with two former members of the US Congress, Loretta Sanchez and Gregory Walden, hearing about their time on the front-line of American law-making.
Following a successful event in the American Library in The Forum, Norwich on 8 November, the two former members of Congress delivered another session the next day at UEA, attended by an engaged audience of staff and students.
Congress to Campus is the Association of Former Members of Congress’ (FMC) flagship programme, which has, for more than 40 years, provided university students with a unique opportunity to engage in honest dialogue with bipartisan teams of Former Members of Congress, Congressional staff, and American diplomats.
The two speakers for the events were:
Loretta Sanchez (Democrat – California), who served in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2017. She represented California’s 46th and 47th Districts during her time in office. A member of the moderate to conservative wing of the Democratic Party, she served on both the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Armed Services, where she was its most senior female member.
Gregory Walden (Republican – Oregon), who served in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2021. He represented Oregon’s 2nd District during his time in office, having previously served in the Oregon State Legislature. He was Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, responsible for supporting the election of Republicans to Congress from 2012 to 2016. He also served on the Committee on Energy and Security.
Dr Pierre Bocquillon, Head of Politics at UEA, said: “The Congress to Campus programme has been a fantastic opportunity for students and staff to hear directly from US representatives, on both sides of the political spectrum and with decades of experience in Congress, how things work in the corridors of power of American democracy. At UEA, our students can take module on American politics as well as US Foreign Policy, and the talk perfectly complemented those.
“We were able to discuss topics as important and varied as the growing polarisation in Congress or US leadership on the international stage in a changing geopolitical landscape marked by wars, climate change and economic competition. The fact we were able to host Loretta Sanchez and Greg Walden at UEA was a real coup, and I believe all of those in attendance, both staff and students, learnt a lot. We very much hope to make this a regular feature in forthcoming years.”
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