Government students visit D.C.

Dr. Charles Murphy took students from Liberty University to visit the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C. to help better their education.

The NDU is the premier center for Joint Professional Military Education and is under the direction of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Murphy, a Marine and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) veteran, teaches Strategic & Intelligence Studies and International Relations for the Helms School of Government.

Murphy has been trying to make extracurricular activities a staple in his students’ learning experience. He has taken his classes to visit and participate in many intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and others. According to Murphy, his classes have been the only undergraduate classes on site on the majority of these trips.

The class time was spent sharing in a symposium exploring the complex food crisis in the Horn of Africa. The day-long session consisted of in-depth discussion about the political, social and economic factors of the 2011 famine in Eastern Africa.

“The students have the opportunity to mix and mingle and network with very influential and powerful leaders,” Murphy said.

During the symposium, students heard from prominent figures, including NDU President Vice Admiral Ann E. Rondeau, and had the opportunity to interact with several key government leaders. A few of those in attendance included ambassadors, general grade officers, field grade officers, academicians and more, according to Murphy.

Murphy said after years of establishing connections with people in the Intelligence Community, his students can now directly benefit.

“I have been able to build those relationships into a quality, hands-on experience for undergraduates,” he said.

Not only are Murphy’s students able to network with government leaders, but interacting with them in person allows them to garner insight into their future careers.

“I learned a lot from the different speakers, and it only emphasized what I wanted to do and why,” Intelligence Studies major Prescilia Elielie-Ndjana said.

Elielie-Ndjana believes events likes these are important for students in the Intelligence Studies program as they seek to familiarize themselves in the trade.

“Even if it’s only for a day or two, just … partaking [in] conferences with intellectual minds makes you feel better about yourself and what you want to do,” she said. “I know a career in Intelligence will not be easy, but at least meeting some of the people in that field, I know it’s not impossible.”

Murphy knows involvement is essential in growing successful leaders who will stand on biblical truths to make a difference in their fields, particularly government.

“I am trying to develop … students who understand that ‘truth never fears a challenge,’ and who can become the thinking and creative Christian statesmen and leaders that this world so desperately needs,” Murphy said.