WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two Purdue University graduate students studying communication will work in the media offices at both national political conventions this summer.
Kinnari Sejpal and Nandita Shetty, both master’s students from Bombay, are two of 35 university students selected to participate in the Aug. 15 to Sept. 5 Leadership in Communication Program at the National Political Conventions. The Purdue students’ participation in the program is funded by a $5,500 scholarship in honor of communication alumnus and C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, as well as a stipend from the Washington Center. The center sponsors the program.
Sejpal and Shetty will assist media professionals working at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver, and the Republican convention is Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul, Minn.
“These students are not only gaining valuable experience in the field of communication and media relations, but they also will be part of history in the making at both conventions,” said Howard Sypher, professor and head of the Department of Communication. “They will receive course credit for their participation, and they also will share what they learn with other students in the department.”
Sejpal and Shetty will arrive in Denver more than a week before the convention begins for orientation and training. They also will attend lectures and participate in small group activities.
The Department of Communication is housed in the College of Liberal Arts.
Lamb, who earned his bachelor’s degree in communication in 1963, also received an honorary doctorate from Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts in 1986. Lamb is a Lafayette native, and, in 2007, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, that nation’s highest civilian award. In 2003 Lamb was honored with the National Humanities Medal, and, in 2005, he was inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame and named one of the country’s best 25 leaders by U.S.News and World Report. Lamb also is a 1987 recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Washington Center is an educational nonprofit organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States and other countries by providing select students opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C.
