Bronco hearts may lie in Idaho, but some of the university’s students and recent graduates have put their talents to work in Washington, D.C. They have excelled in a range of disciplines and shone a bright light on Boise State.
Capital Connection in the School of Public Service
Through this new program, students apply to spend their spring semester living, studying and working in Washington, D.C. The program pairs them with prestigious internships. They experience capital culture while building professional networks and earning academic credits. The inaugural group of eight students returned to Boise in May. Three came home with job offers.
Charles Hunt, an assistant professor in the School of Public Service, coordinates the program. “We have always known that we have talented students who can excel in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Student demand for such a program was high, he added. In response, school leaders, intent on lowering financial barriers, worked with the university, with the Frank Church Institute and with generous donors to make the cost of the program similar to a semester on campus. All participants received a scholarship.
The first group of eight worked in congressional offices and for nonprofit organizations. Saige Caldwell, a senior political science and sociology major from Boise, comes from a Bronco family. Her father, sister and grandfather graduated from Boise State.
Caldwell spent her semester at the Georgetown University Law Center as an investigative intern helping public defenders prepare their cases. She jumped into the deep end, requesting medical records, interviewing witnesses and accompanying lawyers and clients to court.
“It was as hands-on as you could get,” Caldwell said. The work solidified her passion for criminal justice and advocacy.
“Seeing how the courts impact people, seeing how different judges offer their opinions, how different prosecutors work, also, the difference it made if our clients had previous convictions and how their age made an impact. Seeing the pros and cons of our legal system. There is change to be made. That is the direction I want to go.”
Caldwell said she returned to Boise with lasting connections in Washington, D.C. She is applying for law school.
The program, Hunt said, is building ties with an already strong Bronco alumni network in the capital. For one example, students joined alum Mary Grace Lucas (BS, mass communication, journalism, 2006), executive producer of “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” for a live taping of the show.
Hunt said that because of the caliber of Boise State students, he wasn’t surprised they excelled in Washington, D.C., and impressed their employers. But seeing them experience a new, vibrant city and a world of professional possibilities was still a thrill.
“To get to be a mentor, to help students realize a potential that is already inside them. That is so rewarding.”
The program welcomes donations to help ease costs for students.
Kenny Huston
Kenny Huston (BS, environmental studies with minors in economics, sustainability and climate studies with a certificate in human rights, 2022) served in the White House Internship Program – one of only 126 interns chosen from across the U.S.
“I reported to the White House every day for three months. There wasn’t one day, walking through those gates, that I didn’t have a sense of awe,’ Huston said.
He stands as an example of how Boise State prepares its students with experiential – or hands-on – learning that pairs them with decision makers, academics and experts to work on pressing issues.
As an undergraduate, he participated in the Working Lands Field School on a cattle ranch in Cascade, Idaho, under the leadership of Emily Wakild, a professor of history and environmental studies and the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands in the School of Public Service. Students and faculty met with ranchers. They studied soil, legacy water rights and the environmental dynamics of ranching and logging in rural Idaho.
Huston, who grew up in Sacramento, California, is pursuing a Master of Public Administration in Boise State’s School of Public Service with a graduate certificate in state, local and regional governance. His experiential learning continues as a graduate research and policy assistant. He has channeled those skills into his current role as a full-time policy analyst in the Idaho Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources.
“Today, learning doesn’t only take place in a lecture hall,” Huston said. “Boise State prepares students to be successful by seeing first-hand how our curriculum applies to the real world. The university is producing high quality employees who are prepared to meet the needs of employers, the state and beyond.”
Ximena Bustillo
Ximena Bustillo (BS, political science and government; BA, media studies, 2020) reports for National Public Radio on the radio, on podcasts and in print. She covers the White House and Congress and is lead reporter on the trials of Donald Trump. During election season, she spent time on the campaign trail in different states and at events including primaries, debates and political conventions.
At Boise State, Bustillo was a reporter and online editor of The Arbiter. She received a True Blue Scholarship. Partly supported by donors, the scholarship supports Idaho students on the basis of need and merit. Bustillo, from Nampa, Idaho, was also vice president of the award-winning Talkin’ Broncos speech and debate team from 2018-2020.
During her senior year, Bustillo became a breaking news reporter at the Idaho Statesman where she was a valued source for Spanish-language news during the pandemic. She then became an award-winning food and agriculture policy reporter and newsletter author at POLITICO covering immigration, climate, labor and supply chain issues. Bustillo co-founded and runs Voces Internship of Idaho, a program that provides paid internships in local newsrooms for Latino Idahoans pursuing journalism.
“Life has definitely been fast paced,” Bustillo said. She keeps her ties to Boise State strong by mentoring students in the Capital Connection Program.
Marco Ovando
Marco Ovando (BS, political science with an emphasis in public policy and American government with minors in Native American and Indigenous studies, 2024) served as a congressional intern with the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall
Foundation and the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy. He worked in the Washington, D.C., office of Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.
“As the second recipient of this opportunity from the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes and the first from Boise State University, I hope I extended my knowledge and passion for policy in the center of American politics on Capitol Hill and represented my tribal nation, state and university well,” Ovando said.
Ovando grew up on the Duck Valley Reservation that straddles the Idaho/Nevada state line. As a student at Boise State, he embraced leadership roles, including director of the Seven Arrows Powwow.
Ovando also served as an orientation leader, welcoming new students to campus and talking to them about one of his causes: mental health. United National Indian Tribal Youth, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the well-being of native youth, tapped him to testify before Congress in 2020 about mental health struggles in Indigenous communities. Ovando received an Inclusive Excellence Award from Boise State in recognition of his commitment to create a healthy and just campus environment.
Kaelee Novich
Kaelee Novich (BS, mechanical engineering, 2020) is a fourth year doctoral student in Boise State’s Advanced Materials Laboratory in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering. She is serving a fellowship in Washington, D.C. with the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Novich’s first nuclear project at Boise State was researching and developing materials for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel rods. As an undergraduate, she received a research internship at Idaho National Laboratory. Inspired by her experience, she committed herself to pursuing her graduate degree. She received another opportunity, a graduate research internship funded by the Nuclear Energy University Program.
“I’m hooked. I’m always going to be a nuclear energy advocate. No other energy source will be able to meet goals that we have set for being a ‘carbon free’ country by the 2050s,” she said.
Novich highlighted another nuclear objective: developing compact reactors for supplying power to distant locations like military outposts or isolated communities. These “micro” units could be transported on a semi-truck and be powerful enough to supply energy to entire communities in the aftermath of hurricanes and other disasters.
The American nuclear power industry is in need of infrastructure, modernization and a trained workforce, Novich said. “It’s challenging. But I also think it’s exciting because it also allows a lot of us who are starting careers in nuclear energy to become leaders.”
In a celebration of student dedication, the Boise State University Center for Advanced Energy Studies recently honored Novich with its Student of the Year award. Novich is from Nampa, Idaho.