The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute on Monday named SIU senior Travis Washington as the recipient of the Alexander Lane Internship, according to a university news release.

The paid internship allows the recipient to work with the Illinois House of Representatives Democrats during the spring session. The scholarship is funded through private donations and granted annually to one student to work alongside a minority member of the General Assembly, according to the release.

Washington said SIU Africana Studies professor Rev. Joseph Brown, former President Bill Clinton and his father are three heroes who inspired him to pursue politics. The senior from Chicago studying Africana studies and speech communication said he attributes his success to hard work and God, adding that he hopes to use the opportunity to help people through political channels.

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“The whole point of politics is to make sure nobody else gets taken advantage of,” Washington said.

Washington has traveled to Springfield for the internship and will graduate this May.

The scholarship is named for Alexander Lane, the university’s first African American male student to graduate from the university. In 1906, Lane went on to become the ninth African American to be elected to the Illinois General Assembly. He died in 1911.

Staff writer Tyra Wooten can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @twootenDE.

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