CLASS NOTES
	Hold the Jokes, Please Michael Jason Lee ’96 completes a serious gig as a White House intern. California native Michael Jason Lee ’96 has just received his J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of San Diego in a process that normally takes four years. Lee finished in only two years, nine months — the first student at USD ever to complete the program in under three years. He managed this by taking heavy course loads and a 20-hour-a-week internship or clerkship each semester, and each summer taking 9 to 12 units as well as 30 hours a week in various legal and sports internships. (He tailored his M.B.A. to include a sport management concentration.) As if that weren't impressive enough, Lee spent this spring as a legal intern in the White House counsel’s office "despite," he says, "not coming from a big major law institution or Ivy League school. They were taking a chance because they normally have a huge applicant pool and can afford to be selective." His academic credentials, letters of reference, and two personal interviews must have impressed them: he was offered the internship. He started in mid-January, just as the impeachment trial was getting started. "There was no time for anyone to hold my hand — let alone even brief me," says Lee. "My first week," he says by way of illustration, "I got an assignment dealing with [the president’s personal secretary] Betty Curry. I was handed her grand jury testimony, hundreds of pages, and was supposed to familiarize myself with it in two or three days — a daunting task." For his first two months Lee prepared for the daily rigors of the impeachment trial and worked closely with attorneys to help prepare the president’s defense. "It was extremely weird to be thrown into that environment, with the people I’d been seeing on the news and reading about, and be expected to contribute. For the first month and a half it seemed surreal. And now I’ve had the chance to be up close and personal in a new environment — seeing how legislation comes about, interacting with senators, understanding how politics in Washington works. I’ve absolutely loved it." Lee came to Ithaca College from California because of the College’s sport management program. "I’d known since an early age that I wanted to work in professional sports. This is one of the few sport management programs that’s grounded in intense business subjects — it’s not physical education–based — and that has specialized courses in addition to a mandatory internship program." Lee interned with the Cornell University sports information office; he also had a legal internship, worked on the Ithacan, and was a student justice. "I went to law school," Lee says, "because to reach the upper echelons in the sport management field, you need a legal background." His ultimate ambition is to be a sports commissioner in a pro sports league. This summer he’s studying for the California bar exam and, with a friend, setting up a sport management firm. They already have several clients. But what about the lure of the White House, the thrill of being inside the Beltway? "I know one thing for certain," answers Lee. "I want nothing to do with politics." — M. S.