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3:40 p.m., July 9, 2003--The James R. Soles Jr. Fellowship is the opportunity of a lifetime for talented UD grads who want to learn the political calculus of Washington, D.C.

Chuck Lewis, AS ’75, the Newark native who created the fellowships five years ago, modestly jokes that he wouldn’t have been qualified to win one when he was a senior.

Lewis was graduated with honors and distinction from UD, and then went on to earn a masters of arts at Johns Hopkins University and a MacArthur Foundation “genius award” Fellowship. An award-winning investigative journalist, Lewis founded the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan research center that has produced several headline-garnering books. Uber credentials are staples amongst the center’s Soles fellows.

This year’s winner, Julia Kohen of Bayside, N.Y., earned a bachelor’s and master’s simultaneously in four years with an undergrad grade point average of 3.79. She was a Freshman Fellow, a Russell Fellow, an Alison Fellow and won the Warner Award as the outstanding woman of the Class of 2003. She deferred her admission to Duke Law School for one year to accept the fellowship.

Kohen now has a desk at the Center for Public Integrity in the heart of the nation’s capital.

The nonprofit center is a scrappy watchdog organization. Lewis founded it in 1990 after an 11-year career in investigative journalism with ABC and CBS television. He describes it as part think-tank, part muckraker, part public interest group and quasi-academic.

For young graduates of UD, Penn, Princeton and Notre Dame working in Washington for the first time, it’s also one part security blanket, one part road map and one part career lubricant.

Soles fellows (from left) Katy Lewis, Nathaniel Heller and Adam Mayley (right) with Center for Public Integrity founder Chuck Lewis (second from right). Photo by Eric Crossan.

“The great thing about the center is you’re in there with some of the top researchers in the country, although you have little or no experience in the field of investigative journalism,” 2000 Soles Fellow Brenda Mayrack, AS ‘00, said. She later served as executive director of Delaware’s Democratic Party. “It’s just a great place to meet people and exchange ideas.”

Soles fellows, all from UD, have a special place at the center because Lewis created the fellowship to honor James R. Soles, Alumni Distinguished Professor and former Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, who mentored Lewis when the journalist was a UD undergraduate. Lewis passes on the favor by mentoring the Soles fellows at regular one-on-one meetings, breakfasts and lunches.

“Dr. Soles inspired me as a professor,’’ Lewis said. “He believed that anything is possible for any student, not just the straight-A student. I think that was always what made Dr. Soles special. He took a personal interest in each and every student.’’

The students have blossomed at the center.

• Dan Steinberg, AS ‘98, the first Soles fellow, helped produce “The Buying of the President 2000.’’ When he went to visit his sister at Goucher College, he found it in the required reading section of the bookstore. Steinberg, now a writer for the Washington Post’s high school sports department, says he got his job through people he met at the center.
• Nathaniel Heller, AS ‘99, the 1999 fellow, and Katy Lewis, AS ’01, the 2001 fellow, accompanied Lewis to a six-hour meeting at George Soros’ Foundation Open Society Institute. There, they made a case for funding for an international corruption research project. They beat out a team of Harvard Ph.D.s and snared a $1 million grant.
• Adam Mayle, AS ‘02, the 2002 fellow, helped reveal plans for a sequel to the USA Patriot Act that would give the government sweeping powers for domestic surveillance.
  

“The big thing with Chuck is he tells you to figure out what you want to do in life and go after it,’’ Mayrack said. She went snowboarding in Vail while she contemplated her options for law school or grad school. “If you learn anything from Chuck, it’s that you need to figure out what makes you happy.’’

Lewis began the fellowships to honor Prof. Soles, who saw the possibilities in Lewis, the first in his family to go to college. He said Soles made him believe anything was possible for him.

The Soles fellows say Lewis fills the samespot in their lives. “Chuck is an excellent mentor for young people,’’ Mayrack said. “He’s very personally concerned with your success and well-being.”

James R. Soles, Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations. Photo by Jack Buxbaum.

Lewis said Soles fellows are easily among the center’s best employees. He calls them “world-class type A’s.’’

“They are folks who are going to succeed no matter what they choose to do,’’ he said.

Heller earned a master of science in foreign service at Georgetown, and now works on NATO issues at the state department, traveling to spots such as Brussels. Katy Lewis begins law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August.

“UD has a reputation here at the center that I find utterly delicious,” Lewis said. “I have a staff of 40 people here, and they continually marvel at those kids from Delaware. It’s almost like in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ They say, ‘Who are those guys?’ ’’

Lewis said it may sound corny but he’s happy to see the inspiration of Soles living on at the Center for Public Integrity.

“It’s his inspiration that you can do whatever you put your mind to,’’ Lewis said. “If there’s one thing Jim Soles has always instilled in his students, it’s, as Virgil said, ‘You can because you think you can.’ ’’

Article by Kathy Canavan