The Power of Two
Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker ’78 and former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett ’71 joined forces this fall to teach students about the essential benefit of public service.
Winter 2025
By Lynn Gosnell and Amy McCaig
In what could be described as an “only at Rice” experience, a unique course in public service debuted at Rice by two veteran elected officials and lauded Rice alumni giving students unprecedented access to learning and participation.
“Judge Emmett and I have decades of experience in public office and nonprofit leadership, and we come from the ‘just get it done’ school of politics,” Parker says.
“In today’s world, it is important to understand the positive impact of public servants in both the governmental and private sectors,” Emmett adds.
Their course, SOSC 447: Public Service Practicum, delivered not only an insider’s view of the workings of local public and private sectors, but also an off-campus practicum experience in nonprofit or government offices. Each of the seminar’s seven students put in up to 10 hours weekly at city, state or congressional offices or at major private nonprofits. This complementary approach to learning allowed students to apply classroom lessons to their internships; in turn, students shared their real-world experiences with classmates each week.
“We were able to get experience and network in our internships, and then the seminar was more of the debrief,” says sophomore Daijah Wilson, a pre-law student who interned with BakerRipley. “We spoke candidly with Judge Emmett and Mayor Parker about our experiences, what surprised us and what we were tangibly doing.”
In today’s world, it is important to understand the positive impact of public servants in both the governmental and private sectors.
Senior Dean Toumajian — a political science and sociology major who wants to work in politics and interned in the Office of State Rep. Ann Johnson — credits his practicum for clarifying how classroom teachings manifest in the real world. “It reinforced that I am on the right track to pursue the career that I want,” Toumajian adds.
Emmett is a fellow in energy and transportation at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and he served as Harris County judge from 2007 to 2019 and as a Texas state representative from 1979 to 1987. Parker is CEO and president of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, and she served three terms as mayor of Houston from 2010–16. She also spent six years as a Houston City Council member and six years as city controller.
The prominent guest professors hope that students leave the course with greater knowledge about what public service entails. One of the useful takeaways for Wilson is that “government cannot function without the work of nonprofits.” Because of the course, Wilson can better see herself in the nonprofit world after law school.
The course is supported by the Frances Anne Moody-Dahlberg Gateway Program in the Social Sciences, which provides undergraduates an opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real life. The Gateway Program supports students in professional practica, conference travel, undergraduate research and internships. Learn more at gateway.rice.edu.