Gerald Ford Institute for Public Service

A professor in Albion’s Political Science Department for 10 years, Walling brings her expertise in international politics and human rights to the College’s home for students interested in public policy and service.

Albion College, one of the top 50 innovative liberal arts colleges in the country, announced today their new School for Public Purpose and Professional Advancement.

“I chose to go to South Africa in part because I didn’t want to go somewhere ‘easy’—another campus inside a different version of a college bubble or a European country where I wouldn’t be challenged to examine my race, privilege, and implicit biases,” says Isabel Allaway, ’20, of her off-campus semester as this year’s Kim Tunnicliff Fellow.

Even among students of public policy, the work of lobbying firms isn’t always recognized. But Latrell Crenshaw, ’21, spent the fall 2019 semester understanding their many functions as an intern with Michigan Legislative Consultants.

“When I began embracing my autistic identity and getting involved in disability rights, I didn’t know what I wanted to contribute and where my place should be,” writes the sociology and English double major and Brown Honors Program and Ford Institute member. “This summer, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) ended up being the perfect place for me to explore those questions.”

Nationally renowned pollster Peter Hart and immigration lawyer and advocate Angela Maria Kelley brought their expertise to Albion College over a two-week period in March as part of Albion College’s Visiting Scholars series. Their message? There’s a lot we need to talk about as a country.

Dayton, Ohio, native Craig Kirby became interested in public service at Albion College, and that interest has taken him to Washington, D.C., where he has worked for a president, a vice president and senators, as well as rubbed elbows with international figures. Now he has brought his love of helping to the golf course. “I bet on myself and on an idea that I believe in,” he said.

Michigan is understandably proud of Gerald R. Ford, but on October 4 Albion got a better understanding of the importance of Betty Ford. Lisa McCubbin, author of a 2018 biography of the former first lady, along with former Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who served under five presidents and wrote three best-selling memoirs with McCubbin, shared historical facts and personal insights during Albion College’s Joseph & Donna Calvaruso Speaker Series event at the Bohm Theatre.

Of course, we should all pick up trash, recycle paper and conserve electricity. But environmental activists know that real change lies in the hands of politicians, policymakers and the people who elect, educate and support them. Read about three Ford Institute students who share unique views of environmental policy action in Michigan, via three very different summer experiences.