Connecticut’s Second District Congressman Joe Courtney gave an interview to Professor Borrelli’s government class on February 11.
Professor MaryAnne Borrelli encourages her classes to conduct elite interviews to examine political theories in practice; students in her Politics of Bureaucracy course last semester had the chance to interview President Higdon.
This semester’s Women and U.S. Politics course students had but a short time in which to prepare for the interview. Fortunately for the class, one of Courtney’s staffers is a Connecticut College alumna and helped to facilitate Courtney’s visit. After learning that very week that one of the state’s two U.S. House representatives would be coming to speak that Thursday, students raced to research the congressman’s background, voting record and House Committee involvement, then formulated questions for the interview.
“Being a resident of Connecticut, I really appreciated him giving us some of his time, personally and academically,” said Julie Sizer ’11. “He really added a lot to my knowledge of how things are run in Congress. I’m not a Gov[ernmnet] major or minor, so I didn’t know what to expect from his answers.”
Senior Logan Zemetres was impressed by Courtney’s frankness. “He ventured away from prestructured answers more than other politicians I’ve seen interviewed.”
However, Zemetres found the content of the responses somewhat lacking.
“We didn’t talk about gender in politics at all, nearly,” he said. “Though we didn’t push [Courtney] in that direction.”
“I do wish he had more of an angle on our course material,” said Sizer.
She said found the Congressman to be very relatable.
Joe Courtney brought copies for the class of a recent New York Times article detailing congressional efforts to change the student loan process. He spoke about the need for broader access to affordable higher education, a subject about which he is passionate. The Vernon, Conn. resident sits on the House Education and Labor Committee. There, he advocates for an end to exploitative practices from private lending companies.
“Private colleges must also be held accountable for keeping tuition low,” Courtney said.
The Armed Services Committee is Courtney’s other main congressional responsibility. He has used his position in that body to ensure that the nearby Naval Submarine base remains open and employing residents of the Nutmeg State.
Women and U.S. Politics students were also reminded of the importance of individuals’ political participation. Courtney was elected by an incredible margin of eighty-three votes, out of a total of 242,000 votes cast.
Courtney explained to the class the challenges of his first weeks in Washington. “They called me ‘Landslide Courtney’ and I thought that they were dissing me. But then I embraced that. It made me very much aware of what people had done for me. I am proof that every vote counts.” Joe Courtney also emphasized the importance of the many colleges and universities in his district in his winning the seat.
Government Professor MaryAnne Borrelli is a former director of the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy, and serves currently as a Fellow with the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment.
The Women and U.S. Politics course investigates womens’ contributions to national politics as citizens and as officeholders, examining in particular the representation and lack thereof in the three branches of government.
In the House, there are currently 357 men and 78 women, and in the Senate, there are 18 women and 82 men, according to ThisNation. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that females made up 50.7 percent of the U.S. American population, as of 2008.
