Student group to go to NYC

PS Society, a new student-run political science organization, is already planning trips to go to Washington D.C. and New York City this spring.

A new political science organization is developing a following on Main Campus. The student group, Politcal Science Society, is planning trips to New York and Washington D.C.

Co-president Jessica McKavanagh said group members will be visiting these political bastions later this spring.

“We feel it is important to actually take trips to go to Washington D.C. and New York, to understand the inner workings of them,” the sophomore political science major said. “It’s just a matter of networking to provide information for our members.”

While they haven’t set any dates yet, the group’s organizers would like to get a taste of New York City in March and travel to the nation’s capital in April. On its first meeting last fall, PS Society voted to sit in on a U.S. Supreme Court hearing and spend the rest of their day in Washington D.C. touring the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capitol.

“It will pretty much be like a museum for us,” McKavanagh said. “We want to walk around and see the atmosphere.”

The Library of Congress serves as a research arm for representatives and senators. PS Society is trying to get a staff member of their U.S. representative to give them a tour of the Capitol. The building offers visitors a chance to learn about Congress with the help of their representative.

“[The trip] would give us a better insight from a Pennsylvanian perspective,” McKavanagh said.

McKavanagh said she wanted to see the National Archives, so visiting the city was why she co-founded the student group.

Last fall, McKavanagh and Nikki Esposito, a junior political science major, started PS Society when they couldn’t find a political organization they liked.

“Other groups are too politically affiliated,” said sophomore political science major and PS Society Treasurer Brittany Rutledge.

McKavanagh and Esposito chose New York and Washington D.C. because of those cities’ hold on nation-wide politics. McKavanagh said she marked Washington D.C. because she’s never been there, while Esposito wanted to revisit the U.N. headquarters.

“I think [the United Nations] can achieve so much with different countries going into one room to discuss global issues,” Esposito said, “there is so much power concentrated there.”

Rutledge said she is trying to lower the price on the $30 trips with fundraisers, with events like last week’s Valentine’s Day bake sale, where the group raised $40 selling cookies at the Student Center. Rutledge said although this is a good start, she wants to make the bus ride free for both trips.

While the group’s board is made up of political science majors, PS Society is open to all students regardless of their field of study.

Ian Romano can be reached at ian.romano@temple.edu.