Politico Person

While still in high school, Daniel Knickelbein ’14 (Oak Park, Ill.) volunteered for Obama’s first presidential campaign. It’s not surprising, then, that he wasted no time getting more political experience once he was at Macalester.

“Unlike so many liberal arts colleges, Mac is in an urban environment with lots of opportunities.”

Last fall he landed an internship with U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison’s Minnesota office. For the past semester he has spent 17 hours a week answering phones, assisting on constituent casework, scheduling, and performing other tasks. “It’s been great,” says Knickelbein. “Congressman Ellison is a really nice guy and I love working with the whole staff, from the district director on down.”

The sophomore political science major also has followed his interest in mass transit issues by attending many meetings with Ellison’s transportation staffer. There are six staff members and three interns in Ellison’s Minnesota office and another nine in his Washington, D.C. office. “I’d love to work in Washington one day because so much happens there,” Knickelbein says. “Here it’s more constituent relations; there it’s more making bills and laws.”

Nevertheless, he’s been surprised by how much input the Minnesota staff does have. “They really have to balance their time because so many people want to meet with them,” he says.

A fluent Spanish speaker, Knickelbein plans to study in Mexico next year. He’s already tutoring St. Paul West Side Latino adults in English once a week. As with his internship, the tutoring is something it would be hard to do at a small-town college.

“It’s incredible to attend a small school in a big city,” he says. “Unlike so many liberal arts colleges, Mac is in an urban environment with lots of opportunities,” says Knickelbein. “That was certainly a plus when I was considering where to go to school. It still is.”