Each morning, Torie Ness and four housemates make the 10-minute walk from a house owned by the University of Georgia to work as interns for a UGA alum, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, in a building named for another Bulldog-turned-senator, Richard Russell.
Ness said she was grateful for “amazing facilities like this one, as well as incredible faculty, alumni and supporters who work to create life-changing experiences like the one I am currently having on Capitol Hill.”
Ness spoke Thursday at the dedication of the house, a $12 million bid by the university to further cement its Washington presence. The building can house up to 32 students — 29 live there now — and also serves as the university’s Washington lobbying office.
The students intern anywhere from Congress to television stations to law firms as part of UGA’s Washington Semester Program, which was first established in 2008.
Delta Air Lines came up with $5 million for the project, which was privately funded through donations solicited by the University of Georgia Foundation.
“This project was funded without a single state dollar,” UGA President Jere Morehead made sure to note at Wednesday’s dedication.
The three-story, 20,000-square-foot Delta Hall — as opposed to a fraternity-inspired “Delta House” — has living space, study areas, classrooms and offices.
“Delta Hall will not only enhance the quality of the experiential learning opportunities that we offer our students now, but it’s going to make those opportunities more accessible and more cost-effective for UGA students,” Morehead said.
The building provides a chance for students to live together while keeping their housing costs stable in a city with eye-popping rents.
Many of the students who come through the Washington program look to stay in the nation’s capital. The university has sent 262 students there in the past eight years.
Isakson recalled how in 2005 a UGA intern in his office directed him to professor Steven Stice to school the senator on the simmering issue of stem cell research.
“As I have gone along through my career in the Senate, time and again I find myself going back to Athens or going to the phone to call Athens or dealing with interns in my office who are from Athens,” Isakson said, “using their knowledge, using their interest and using their curiosity to help me as a member of the United States Senate.”
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