By Sara Gregory
sgregory @salisburypost.com
A Catawba College student will join students from across the U.S. to promote bipartisanship and diplomacy next month.
Elizabeth Mae Edwards, 21, will represent North Carolina at the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship’s first Student Congress.U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole nominated Edwards, who interned in Dole’s office during her freshman year at Catawba. Edwards is majoring in political science
Students from all states and the District of Columbia will attend the course in bipartisan cooperation and statesmanship July 19 through 26 in Lexington, Ky.
“In a world marked by polarization and in a nation poised for change, the ideals of Henry Clay could not be more relevant,” D.G. Van Clief, president of the Clay Center’s board, said in a statement. “Our mission with this program is to educate a new generation in the skills and processes of statesmanship.”
The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship is named for the 19th century senator from Kentucky. He is credited with brokering the Compromise of 1850 and holding off the Civil War for 10 years.
“He’s known as the great compromiser,” said Caitlin Turney of Conover Tuttle Pace in Boston representing the Clay Center.