Emma Sulczynski will finish an undergraduate degree from the political science department in Fairbanks in 2026, her minor degree is in environmental studies. She heard about the Henry Clay Student Congress through an email and immediately applied. She was the student chosen to represent the state of Alaska. For the total program, there were over 500 applicants from across the country.
The College Student Congress gathers fifty-one rising college seniors, one from each state and Washington, D.C., together with lawmakers, academics, politicians, journalists, and business leaders to learn about the dynamics of public policy and public policy decision making through the lens of the legacy of Kentucky’s greatest statesman and compromiser, Henry Clay. Guest speakers engage with the students throughout their time, and students participate in an intensive curriculum and project designed by the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and the Henry Clay Center staff. Each year's program invites students to focus on different dimensions of four unique policy challenges that are currently facing the nation. Previous topics have included areas such as healthcare, net neutrality, national security, immigration, criminal justice reform and the national debt.
“This year's theme was isolationism and the four topics were trade and tariff policy, defense and Alliance, yes, Inter National, health and environmental standards, which is the one that I was assigned to, and immigration, and you were divided into these groups and then randomly assigned to take a prescribed stance,” says Sulczynski.
Sulczynski provided a description of isolationism and her interpretation of why it was chosen for the theme this year. “I think we're seeing it a lot today in like pulling out of the international sphere, so closing ourselves off to trade, withdrawing from international agreements, ceasing to continue foreign aid programs. I think it's exemplified in the America First deal that we're seeing right now,” she said.
Another feature she noted from the event was the diversity of other students. “I think that was one of my favorite parts about the experience, was getting to know the other delegates, because they came from a very wide variety of backgrounds. They had different perspectives, different policy interests and just to be around so many passionate, intelligent and accomplished young people was really inspiring. It gave me a lot of hope for the future of politics in this country,” she said.
One of the features particularly noticeable about the event was a lack of awareness about the state of Alaska in general and Alaska concerns and impacts of climate change both in relation to this event and in the UAF Climate Scholars Program that Sulczynski attended last year. “I was in DC for the first time just last year through the UAF climate Scholars Program. And the theme of that trip was influencing federal climate policy. And as much as we were there to learn about the politics surrounding environmental legislation, we were also representing Alaska. Many of the people who we talked to that weren't our State Senators, representatives and Arctic specific groups really had no clue what was going on in Alaska at all,” she said.
This summer, Sulczynski is working with Salmon Sisters on the Homer Spit. Prior to federal budget cuts she intended to continue an undergraduate research position with the Fresh Eyes on Ice program organized through the International Arctic Research Center at UAF, but due to the federal budget cuts, the student position was removed. Sulczynski provided some final observations of the Henry Clay event to share with upcoming senior students, “I was just very impressed with the cohort of young people who were so passionate, intelligent and driven. I think that as the future young leaders all across the nation, we're hopefully in pretty good hands.”
