Year

Highlights of Close Up in Washington

1975-76

Susanne F. Baldwin Close Up Community Coordinator; Miguel “Red” Ares 1^st Belen student to attend Close Up; Sheraton Park Hotel; attend conference with United Nations Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Senator Edward Kennedy (D, MA), Senator Frank Church (D, ID), and Ambassador George F. Kennan; Tidal Basin now remembered for Representative Wilbur Mills (D, AR) and Fanne Fox on October 7, 1974; National Gallery of Art; “Your Arms Too Short To Box With God” at Ford’s Theater. Participants: 2
 

1977

Shoreham Hotel February 13-19; first Belen students to visit the National Air and Space Museum dedicated on July 4, 1976, and see IMAX “To Fly”; Associate Justice William Rehnquist at the United States Supreme Court; Congressman Dante Fascell (D, FL) Rayburn House Office Building; Mr. Collins presents a Close Up seminar: “Bay of Pigs: What Went Wrong?”; Mark Russell at Shoreham Hotel; National Gallery of Art The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole; Corcoran Gallery of Art Niagara by Frederic Edwin Church, and The Last of the Buffalo by Albert Bierstadt. Participants: 15
 

1978

Belen participates in Close Up Program and Close Up Court Observer Program; Washington, D.C., covered in snow; 50,000 farmers arrive in Washington in a tractorcade to protest the administration’s farm policy and to lobby Congress; CBS News correspondent Robert Pierpoint; Congressman William Lehman (D,  FL); “First Monday in October” starring Henry Fonda and Jane Alexander at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Close Up Court Observer Program has a reception at the Watergate; President Jimmy Carter’s State of the Union Address on January 19^th. Participants: 13
 

1979

 

Holiday Inn Georgetown; Carlos Battle ‘80 is motivated to attend Georgetown University; during his four years at Georgetown, Carlos visited the Belen groups on Close Up all four years; first Belen students to see the National Gallery of Art East Building designed by I.M. Pei dedicated in 1978; National Geographic Society; National Portrait Gallery; Freer Gallery of Art; Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), founded by Mr. Brian Lamb, begins broadcasting on March 19, 1979. Participants: 39
 

1980

The Watergate tapes from President Nixon are made available to the public and Fausto Martin ’80 is the first from Belen to listen to the tapes (including the Smoking Gun tape of June 23, 1972 and President Nixon’s question to John Dean: “Is that a union problem?”) made available in 1980 by the National Archives; Congressman Claude Pepper (D, FL) says his proudest vote to date in Congress was for the Lend-Lease Act in 1941; Esther Peterson, Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs; flags fly at half-staff for January 19th death of retired Supreme Court Associate Justice William Douglas; first Belen students to see the Albert Einstein Memorial Statue at the National Academy of Sciences dedicated in 1979 honoring the centennial of Einstein’s birth; Senator Richard Stone (D, FL); the six U.S. embassy aides who escaped Iran with help from Canada arrive in D.C. and stay at the Sheraton National along with the Close Up Program; Albert Hernandez ’81 receives the Alan J. Ellender Fellowship to attend Close Up and will become a Teacher of Social Studies at Belen; as a guest speaker at Belen from the Iliff School of Theology, Dr. Hernandez said on August 28, 2006, that participating in Close Up was “one of the most formative and influential educational experiences of my life.” Participants: 35
 

1981

 

The Inauguration of Ronald Wilson Reagan; first Inauguration on the west side of the Capitol; U.S. hostages in Iran are released after 444 days; Congressman Dante Fascell (D, FL) hosts a reception after the Inauguration in Rayburn HOB 2354; Senator Lawton Chiles (D, FL).  Participants: 27
 

1982

The United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington depicting the flag raising at the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima (1945) on Mount Suribachi as captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal; CU program from February 28 to March 6; Close Up workshop of liberal v. conservative remains one of the most enthusiastic sessions of CU; U.S. Senate considers appropriate punishment for the conduct of Senator Harrison Williams (D, NJ) in Abscam; Harrison, convicted in court for bribery, would later in the year resign from the Senate; the Lyndon B. Johnson Congressional Internship is awarded to Mr. Collins by Congressman Dante Fascell for the summer in Washington. Participants: 26
 

1983

 

First Belen students to visit the newly dedicated Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by Maya Ying Lin and see the name of First Lieutenant Stephen Edward Karopczyc, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and graduate of Spring Hill College which was established by the Society of Jesus in 1830, The Wall: Panel 16E - Row 069; Congressman Claude Pepper (D, FL) Chairman of the Committee on Rules; Senator Paula Hawkins (R, FL); Congressman Larry Smith (D, FL), Carlos McDonald ‘75 is a Congressional Aide to Congressman Smith. Participants: 19
 

1984

The CU trip begins in November of 1983 for Washington - Williamsburg – Jamestown; Congressman Dante B. Fascell (D, FL) Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; President Ronald Reagan agrees to speak to a special seminar for Close Up students: Robert Pupo ‘85 is selected from Belen Jesuit; Augusto Venegas ‘85 future Network Administrator of Belen among the participants; Carlos Muñiz ‘85 experiences chest pains and is taken by Close Up to the hospital for treatment and a speedy recovery; Xavier Briggs ‘85, Luis Clemens ‘85, and Juan Ros ‘85 create and publish the newsletter, C.U. Comments; on March 9, 1984, Close Up produces three civics seminars from Belen Jesuit that are broadcast on C-SPAN with Close Up President Stephen Janger as moderator; CU Community Coordinator Kevin Neil. Participants: 15
 

1985

 

Second Inauguration of President Ronald Reagan; Inauguration and parade are cancelled due to arctic winter weather below zero degrees; Chief Justice Warren Burger administers oath of office to President Reagan indoors; Quality Hotel Courthouse Plaza in Arlington loses heat in some rooms during winter storm. Participants: 28
 

1986

 

Twin Bridges Marriott Hotel in Arlington; see new statue of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Rotunda (1986: Third Monday in January declared a federal holiday for MLK.); Bureau of Engraving and Printing; Thursday, February 6, President Reagan’s 75th birthday; Rules Committee of the House of Representatives with Chairman Claude Pepper (D, FL); Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neil (D, MA) remarks that South Florida has more political clout in Congress than most states with Congressman Claude Pepper as Chairman of the Rules Committee and Congressman Dante Fascell as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Congressman William Lehman as Chairman of the Transportation Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee; “Jeeves Takes Charge” at Ford’s Theater; night visit to Lincoln Memorial. Participants: 21
 

1987

First Belen students to meet Senator Bob Graham (D, FL) who was first elected to the Senate on November 4, 1986; in January, both houses of Congress create committees to investigate the Iran-Contra Affair; Close Up Program included students from Texas, Louisiana and Florida; Theater Night is to see Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”;  Kevin Neil of Close Up takes teachers to John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to see “Les Miserables” with Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, former U.S. Senator and 1972 Democratic nominee for President George McGovern is in the audience; State Attorney for Dade County Janet Reno is a guest speaker at Belen Jesuit. Participants: 35
 

1988

 

January 31 to February 6; Senator Bob Graham (D, FL) meets with students;
Congress considers aiding the Contras of Nicaragua, many supporters and protestors on Capitol Hill; the House of Representatives rejects President Reagan’s request for financial aid to Nicaragua; lunch at the food court in Union Station. Participants: 18
 

1989

Inauguration of George Herbert Walker Bush as POTUS 41; see Mrs. Coretta Scott King, former Congressman Paul Rogers (D, FL), and Arnold & Maria Schwarzenegger; Inaugural celebration at the D.C. Armory; Adalberto Jordan (St. Brendan High School Class of 1980, student of Mr. Piscitelli, and Clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor provides a special tour of the Supreme Court including the basketball court – the highest court in the land. Clerk Jordan then introduces his guests to Justice O’Connor in her office. Mr. Jordan is appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 1999. Judge Jordan spoke to the U.S. Government classes at Belen Jesuit in 2001); Theresa Gayle “DeeDee” Noonan is the Close Up teacher from Gulf Breeze High School and in May she is selected the Florida Teacher of the Year. In 1998, DeeDee Ritchie is elected to the Florida House of Representative (District 3), in 2000 she runs for the Florida Senate but is unsuccessful; Congressman Claude Pepper dies on May 30, 1989 and in a special election is replaced in the United States House of Representatives by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Alexis Zequeira ’90 becomes a Social Studies Teacher at Belen and Executive Director of the Belen Alumni Association of Jesuit Schools from Cuba and Miami. Participants: 45
 

1990

 

At the Capitol in January, the Community for Creative Non-Violence (Mitch Snyder) protests homelessness; Cesar Conde ‘91 will be selected for the White House Fellows Program to serve in the Department of State under Secretary Colin Powell in 2002-2003; students participate in the High School Foreign Affairs Program (Should the U.S. Help Gorbachev?) in Miami at the Hyatt Regency featuring Congressman Dante Fascell, Cuban-American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Canosa, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Political Counselor Oleg Derkovsky; Carlos Diaz Rosillo ’91 will earn PhD. and teach at Harvard University. Participants: 33
 

1991

 

The National Archives and Records Administration to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; the United States and allies prepare to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein of Iraq; General Colin Powell, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff; General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander of Operations of Desert Shield and Desert Storm; visit the Society of Cincinnati at 2118 Massachusetts Avenue.  Participants: 19
 

1992

 

The Lincoln Memorial to see Daniel Chester French’s statue of the 16th President and recall that French had been influenced by the life of Thomas Gallaudet as seen in the positioning of Lincoln’s hands; students discuss the collapse (December, 1991) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Congress debates United States aid to Russia; Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL).  Participants: 16
 

1993

Inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton; Close Up Program hotel in Silver Spring, MD, with California, Wyoming, Texas, and St. Brendan High School with Mr. Piscitelli; Renzo Zaldivar ‘94 happens to meet Chelsea Clinton at the ice skating ring in front of the National Archives. Renzo talks with the First Daughter and has a photo taken which appears in the Belen yearbook; Rasco family arranges for Belen students to have a private meeting with Mr. Justice William Brennan (retired) in the Supreme Court; Marcelo Llorente ‘94 is elected on November 6, 2002, to the Florida House of Representatives (District 116) becoming the third Belen graduate (Carlos Manrique ‘78 and Gaston Cantens ‘79) to serve in the Florida legislature. Participants: 37
 

1994

Best Western Hotel in Arlington February 20 – 26; Close Up Program includes students from east to west: New York, Florida, Michigan, California; lunch at the Old Post Office;
George Washington Masonic National Memorial; George Washington exhibit at the National Society Daughters of  the American Revolution; visit Georgetown University to see Belen alum and see logos of Belen Jesuit and Spring Hill College; first Belen students to see United States Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated on April 22, 1993; Arlington National Cemetery on February 25 for Lt. Col. John Paul Vann (Section 11, Grave 675-B)
A Bright and Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Neil Sheehan; tour of the West Wing, the Press Room, the Oval Office of the President, and the EOB with Victoria Rivas-Vasquez, Assistant to Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers and sister of Fernando Rivas-Vasquez ’98; Victor Arrieta ‘95 becomes Assistant to the Athletic Director at Belen; Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway with figure skater Nancy Kerrigan – Silver Medal.  Participants: 26
 

1995

 

Republicans control both houses of Congress for first time in four decades; extremely cold; Funeral Services for Senator J. William Fulbright (D, AR); students visit the Islamic Center of Washington, the Washington National Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  Participants: 25

1996

 

In November of 1995, Belen switches from the Washington-Williamsburg Program to the Close Up International Program with students from Russia; photograph taken with Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R, FL); due to a budget crisis between Democrat President and Republican Congress the federal government closes down; first Belen students to see the Korean War Veterans Memorial dedicated on July 27, 1995, recalling the 38th Parallel separating North Korea and South Korea. Participants: 24

1997

 

Second Inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton; week-long celebration events on The Mall includes filmmaker Ken Burns and musicians Peter, Paul and Mary; U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno speaks to Close Up participants; Ivan Santa Cruz ’97 becomes Computer Science Teacher and Key Club Advisor at Belen; Close Up hosts a spectacular Inaugural Ball; first time Belen separates students into two hotels: Holiday Inn (Chevy Chase, MD) and Days Inn (Washington, DC). Participants: 49
 

1998

First Belen students to see the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial dedicated on May 2, 1997 (FDR’s Scottish-Terrier dog is Falla); the Supreme Court is in session and Belen students hear arguments; Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat in Washington meeting with President Clinton and Congress; Ariel Fernandez ’99 becomes Congressional Aide to Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL); World War II Captain and Florida State Legislator and Member of United States House of Representatives from South Florida and Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and United Nations Delegate Dante B. Fascell receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. DBF dies on November 28, 1998. Participants: 32
 

1999

Impeachment trial in the United States Senate of President William Jefferson Clinton; President of the Irish National Caucus Father Sean McManus speaks to CU teachers; in the House Rules Committee, Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R, FL) makes a point of personal privilege to introduce Mr. Collins to the committee including Chairman David Dreier (R, CA) and Ranking Minority Member Joe Moakley (D, MA). Participants: 21
 

2000

 

The 25^th Year of Close Up Programs at Belen Jesuit; students debate the plight of six-year old Elian Gonzalez to remain with relatives in the USA or return with his father to Cuba; Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan testifies in Senate Finance Committee; Mark Russell at Ford’s Theater; Thespian Frank Angones ’01 performs at Friday CU banquet. Participants: 32
 

2001

Inauguration of George W. Bush, POTUS  43; Popular Vote:
Bush 50,456,062 / Gore 50,996,582 /  Nader  2,858,843 (Electoral Vote: Bush 271, Gore 266, abstain 1); Electoral votes from state of Florida decide the election; confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee (Hart S.O.B) for John Ashcroft as Attorney General; Mark Russell at Ford’s Theater; National Symphony Orchestra at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; second time Belen separates students into two hotels: Holiday Inn (Alexandria, VA), Hilton (Gaithersburg, MD). Participants: 61
 

2002

 

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, and anthrax closing the Hart Senate Office Building and the Supreme Court, Belen Jesuit continues to participate in the Close Up Program in Washington, D.C.; meet with Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL) on steps of the Capitol and she escorts the Belen students into the House Chamber to watch her vote on a campaign finance reform bill; Mr. de Quesada and Belen students sit directly behind Secretary of State Colin Powell as he testifies to a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee; television cameras show the Belen group and broadcast the image nationwide on C-SPAN; photo with Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R, FL); dinner at Hard Rock Café followed by “I’m Not Rappaport” at Ford’s Theater. Participants: 18
 

2003

The Vila family (Luis, Carol, Katherine, Kristen, Kelly, and Elizabeth) participates in Close Up; Cesar Conde ’91 (Close Up participant in 1990, White House Fellow and Special Assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell) delivers the Keynote Address; Belen’s Model United Nations team, with Mr. de Quesada and Mr. Collins, also in Washington for the North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference sponsored by Georgetown University; MUN team meets up with Belen’s Close Up participants on February 12 for Capitol Hill Day; Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan appears before the Financial Services Committee in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building; Secretary of State Colin Powell appears before the International Relations Committee in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building (Portrait of former Chairman Dante Fascell is above the dais.); heightened security in Washington concerning terrorist attacks includes positioning anti-missile launchers around the District of Columbia; Theater Night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to see “Sheer Madness.” Participants: 34
 

2004

Arlington National Cemetery to see the Changing of the Guard with the Third United States Infantry Regiment ("The Old Guard.") at the Tomb of the Unknowns; Hyatt Regency Crystal City; Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell (son of Secretary of State Colin Powell) testifies before Congress; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers USAF testify before the House of Representative’s Appropriations Committee on the Defense Department budget; students debate the issue of censorship and fate of network television in light of the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII involving Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction”; Theater Night is at Ford’s Theater. Participants: 26
 

2005

30th Anniversary partnership of Close Up Foundation and Belen Jesuit; Hyatt Regency Crystal City; students from California, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas; Second Inauguration of George W. Bush; Inaugural Youth Event at The Armory; Close Up Inaugural Ball; keynote speaker U.S. Treasurer Anna Maria Cabral; first Belen students to visit the National World War II Memorial dedicated on Memorial Day weekend in 2004; first Belen students to visit the National Museum of the American Indian which opened on September 21, 2004; heated debate of liberal v. conservative; Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; Mr. Collins meets Professor Frank Mora ‘82 at the National War College in Ft. McNair to tour facility including the Ambassador George F. Kennan Room; CUF President Stephen A. Janger retires in June 2005. Participants: 57
 

2006

 

The American Airlines morning flight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is the last plane to arrive on Sunday before a blizzard in the Northeast closes area airports for two days; despite a foot of snow on the ground the Floridians make it to Arlington National Cemetery to see the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy, the Changing of the Guard and hear Taps; Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies before the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee of the Senate about the response to August 2005 Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast; during Capitol Hill Day students meet Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL) on the steps of the Capitol for a photo and Q & A session; meet Senator Mel Martinez (R, FL) for a photo op and Q & A session at Hart Senate Office Building; guided tour of the Capitol led by Edward Acevedo ‘01 Legislative Assistant to Representative Ros-Lehtinen; Mr. and Mrs. Vila visit Belen Jesuit 1982 Alumnus and Professor of National Security Strategy Frank Mora at the National War College for tour of the facility and lunch at the Officer’s Club; Theater Night at the Arena Stage for “Awake and Sing.” Participants: 27
 

2007