Three Monmouth political science grads selected for legislative intern program

Students are from Germantown Hills, Morton and Chicago

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (05/19/2026) — During its 169th Commencement Exercises, Monmouth College awarded bachelor's degrees in political science to nine students. Three of them have secured a spot in the competitive Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program which is run through the University of Illinois-Springfield.

"It's been said before that Monmouth fights above its weight regarding this program in Springfield," said political science faculty member Robin Johnson. "We really have more than our share of representation now."

That's thanks to the successful applications of Seamus O'Sullivan of Chicago, Cameron Shook of Morton, Illinois, and Taylor Whitaker of Germantown Hills, Illinois. They'll start working in Springfield on Sept. 1.

The 10-month ILSIP experience is intended to broaden the perspective of those planning academic, business or government careers so that they'll carry into their chosen fields an understanding of the legislative process and how it relates to their work. The program also provides legislative leaders with extra staff assistance.

For their chosen field, Both O'Sullivan and Whitaker indicated they're leaning toward becoming a lobbyist.

"I hope the internship leads to being on staff full-time and then, in the future, I want to be a lobbyist," said Whitaker, who was named a Newman Civic Fellow for her senior year at Monmouth.

O'Sullivan said he's had a few related part-time jobs, but the ILSIP represents a big-time leveling up.

"This will be my first, like, job - it's the real deal," he said. "I've done some rudimentary work in government, but that was like single-A baseball. This is the major leagues. If I like it, I'll pursue it. I could see being a lobbyist on environmental and climate issues."

Shook has a possible end goal but said he's going into the program with an open mind.

"I'm hoping to continue my education in law school or in another postgraduate program involving politics and government," he said. "It will all depend on what happens during my time with the ILSIP. Perhaps it will lead to places I might not expect for my future. I'm excited to see where this path takes me."

Where it will take him initially is to a deeper understanding of "the building blocks" of state government.

"I'm looking forward to the hands-on experience the ILSIP provides to its interns, allowing us to gain experience first-hand in the legislation and the building blocks of the Illinois Capitol," said Shook, citing analyzing and staffing bills and following them through the legislation process as part of those blocks. "I'm also excited to meet the other fellow interns in the ILSIP, who come from various universities and colleges across the Midwest, and to collaborating with them."

That ability to network is something that O'Sullivan said will be invaluable.

"I'm just looking to make a lot of connections with state government and learn how it works," said O'Sullivan, who added a major in communication studies and originally had plans to get into sports broadcasting.

Whitaker imagines part of her time as an intern will be spent serving as a "runner."

"When there's a bill ready on the floor, a senator might need something, and it's the intern's job to be the middleman to get them what they need," she said.

The first steps on this path

Monmouth's ILSIP trio all started thinking seriously about government and political science at different times. For O'Sullivan, it began at the age of 8.

"It was the 2012 election, and I remember I got to stay up and watch the debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney," he said. "I just got hooked, and I've been civically engaged ever since."

Shook said a visit to Monmouth as a prospective student helped him clarify his pre-law path. During the visit, he "immediately felt at home" with what he called an "amazing" political science department, which he said has made a major impact on his education.

"It's been from courses that teach us about the environment of politics in our daily lives - impacting more than we realize - to setting us up for amazing post-graduation success by developing and strengthening our writing, critical-thinking, research and communication skills," said Shook "The professors want us to succeed and take every opportunity to assist us in application processes and providing advice."

O'Sullivan agreed that the political science department is special, as are the communication studies faculty.

"I'm just really grateful for my time here and for everyone who's helped me along the way," he said. "My time at Monmouth has broadened my horizons. All I knew was the big city, and you can get tunnel vision in your interests. But coming here, you learn how big the state is, and you get different perspectives."

Whitaker, who started her college journey close to home at Illinois Central College with initial plans to be a clinical psychologist, said exposure to a variety of opportunities has been a major part of her Monmouth experience. Although she still enjoys psychology and minored in the subject - even including elements of the discipline in her senior thesis - she said "political science came really easily to me," aided, in part, by working in the field. She's had the opportunity over the past four years to intern in the office of Illinois State Sen. Dave Koehler (IL-46), an experience that "completely changed the course of my plans."

Whitaker's senior thesis addressed the issue of political polarization, and she shared good advice on the topic.

"For the most part, a lot of it is media driven," she said. "My thesis was about how people get their information. People need to be media literate and not get all their information from one source."

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