Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, March 29, 2024 — Houston, TX

Despite available funding, Rice’s House Rep Crenshaw won’t pay interns

audy-cabay-and-joshua-bochner-and-moses-glickman
Courtesy Sirui Zhou

By Moses Glickman , Josh Bochner and Audrey Cabay     2/12/19 10:40pm

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R, TX-2) won’t pay his interns — and it’s because he thinks they are unworthy of pay. Members of Rice Young Democrats attended Crenshaw’s event in Midtown on Sat., Feb. 2. Crenshaw, the Republican representing Rice in the House of Representatives, held his event at a venue limited to those 21 and older, but he graciously spoke to us outside the venue after he learned that we could not enter. 

We asked Crenshaw about his website, which indicates that internships with his office will be unpaid. The congressman told us he doesn’t think his interns will offer enough skills to justify pay. As Democrats, we believe in fair compensation for work,  no matter your family income and no matter whether you graduated long ago, are currently a student or will never attend college. Our fellow students are competent, capable and highly skilled -- in any case, it is our belief that all labor, skilled or unskilled, merits pay. 

We then asked Crenshaw how he plans to use the $20,000 each House office will receive in 2019 to pay its interns under a new program passed as part of a Sept. 2018 spending bill. While he is not required to spend the money, it cannot be used for any purpose other than supporting interns. Crenshaw indicated that he was willing to use the money to provide housing stipends but maintained that he was unwilling to directly pay his interns for their work. 



Paying interns on Capitol Hill is critical to expanding political access to a variety of low-income populations and underrepresented (and consequently underserved) minorities. When reminded that many students cannot afford to live and work in Washington for a summer without receiving pay, Crenshaw demurred: “There are programs for that.” While some organizations and universities, including Rice, offer stipends to subsidize unpaid or underpaid internships, these opportunities are limited and competitive. Crenshaw’s decision is also an abdication of his responsibility as an employer to his employees. Crenshaw mentioned that a congressional internship provides a significant resume boost, and these internships do help interns receive full-time jobs on Capitol Hill. If members of Congress do not pay their office’s interns, the Capitol’s staff will be largely comprised of those who were able to afford living in Washington to complete a summer internship. This perpetuation of the lack of political opportunity for those from low-income backgrounds will continue to blind the federal government from adequately serving their needs. 

Crenshaw has artificially narrowed his potential pool of applicants for these internships to only those that can afford to work for free. This is a disservice to his district — many highly qualified students may be excluded from participating in the operations of his offices. The benefits of paying interns are clear for both the congressman and his interns. Let’s hope he changes his mind — and we’ll be sure to thank him at his next (age-inclusive) event. 



More from The Rice Thresher

A&E 3/26/24 11:12pm
Review: Matt Champion navigates love and other intimacies in ‘Mika’s Laundry’

The end of the “best boy band since One Direction” (i.e., BROCKHAMPTON) was especially sad for the insufferable people who spammed their songs in high school, but equally exciting as it inevitably presented the opportunity for solo projects. Among the prospective solo projects, perhaps the most exciting — for me, anyway — was that of the former-collective member, Matt Champion.  

A&E 3/26/24 11:06pm
Female-directed films to look out for in 2024

Female filmmakers have been innovating since the era of silent film in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, the 1934 establishment of the Hays Code — a set of guidelines for Hollywood films from the 1930s to 1960s that censored content deemed offensive — played a major role in stifling women’s creative say in the film industry. With Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” becoming the highest-grossing film in the states and worldwide, 2023 was a landmark year for female directors in Hollywood and signifies an ever-changing landscape of female film direction. In honor of Women’s History Month, here are some new or upcoming female-directed films that represent the variety, innovation and artistic verve that women have imbued into the film canon.

OPINION 3/26/24 11:00pm
Now is the time to understand religious diversity and discrimination at Rice

In the midst of a nationwide increase in religious discrimination and hostility, particularly following the events of Oct. 7 in Israel and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, there is a need to examine how Rice University students have been impacted, how they are responding and the degree to which religious tolerance, religious accommodations, and perceptions of religious discrimination at Rice have changed. 


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.