In the nation’s capital, a congress of another kind
They came from as far away as Sudan, Brazil, Australia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Taiwan, Russia, Japan and Argentina, and from as near as neighboring Virginia.
During three days in June, more than 600 attended the Worldwide Alumni Congress in Washington, D.C. Between catching up with old friends and making new ones, they heard panel discussions and lectures, and took in art exhibits and a twilight dinner cruise on the Potomac. Venues included the Supreme Court—where they were hosted by four of the sitting justices—the Library of Congress (pictured), the Smithsonian, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, where Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine ’83 and his wife, Anne Holton ’83, welcomed them.
There were, of course, some wonderful repasts, but the main feast was intellectual. Leading politicians, policy-makers and scholars led discussions on the international economy, cybercensorship and human rights, terrorism and constitutional law, environmental protection, diplomacy and, of course, the legal profession of the future.