Mariel Garcia accepted a welcoming handshake from the chief of staff for state Sen. Tim Grayson. A large photograph of rolling hills at sunset near Walnut Creek, a city in Grayson’s district, dominated a wall in the compact reception room.
“Good to meet you,” said the chief of staff, Aaron Moreno. “We’ll make sure to get whatever you need.”
Behind Moreno was a doorway to Grayson’s Sacramento office on the seventh floor of a government complex across O Street from the state Capitol. This was where Garcia, a just-graduated student from UC Merced, would spend the next six weeks as a legislative intern.
Garcia was as ready as an intern could likely be, thanks to an extraordinary program at the university. In the academic year leading up to the internship, students first take a fall semester course that simulates how the state Senate works. Those chosen to be interns spend the spring semester working as undergraduate political science research assistants. Just before the internships begin, the students attend a one-week “bootcamp” in Sacramento.
Seven students are in this year’s Legislative Fellows cohort, the third for UC Merced’s Center for Analytic Political Engagement, or CAPE, which runs the program.
“The goal is for them to treat public policymaking as a craft. A lot of college students have strong ideologies,” said political science Professor Nathan Monroe, the CAPE director. “We help them step out of their shoes so they can be effective for the people they’re working for.”
Founded in 2021 by UC Merced political science faculty, CAPE’s mission is to connect students, faculty and community leaders for the enhancement of democratic participation in the San Joaquin Valley.
“CAPE does a lot of things at UC Merced, but the Legislative Fellows program is the crown jewel,” said Monroe, the university’s Tony Coelho Chair of Public Policy.
In state capitals from coast to coast, interns are a summer staple — governing bodies and agencies take on college students who experience the rhythms of democracy while providing help in areas such as researching policy, responding to constituents and helping to shepherd bills.
