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Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas Wesleyan senior Kelsey Ripperger is the latest KWU student to be selected for a Washington Center internship, according to information released by the organization recently. The internship will take place for EarthShare, an environmental non-profit in the Washington, D.C. region. 

Ripperger is a multi-year honor roll recipient, a letterwinner on the volleyball team, past president of the KWU Student Environmental Club and a member of the Alpha Chi honor society. She also was president of the KWU chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, a resident assistant, a member of student government and a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

Although she is on-ground in the Arlington, Va. area, Ripperger will be working virtually during her internship. She will also take a course through the Washington Center entitled “Scandalous Washington: Presidents, Impeachments and Elections.”

“I am so grateful for this opportunity,” said Ripperger. “The chance to move to the D.C. area is a history lover’s dream! I have enjoyed exploring all the monuments and historical buildings. I hope to make connections, expand my network and better understand what it takes to make a non-profit function. I appreciate the support from KWU and its wonderful professors like Dr. Specht, who helped me get here.”

“Kelsey is a terrific student,” said Dr. Anita Specht, one of Ripperger’s main academic mentors at KWU. “I’m so glad that she is able to use the skills she learned as a history student and apply them to her love of the environment.”

The Washington Center is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization located in Washington, D.C. that works with thousands of host organizations to provide once-in-a-lifetime internship opportunities. Universities around the country partner with the Center to provide opportunities for their students, but KWU is the only university in Kansas to serve as a partner of the Washington Center. 

Kansas Wesleyan University

100 E. Claflin Avenue
Salina, KS 67401

785-827-5541

Kansas Wesleyan University admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and/or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.