Saint Joseph’s Junior Completes Prestigious State Department Internship

With his grandfather, a World War II Navy veteran, as his role model, Caleb Datto, BA, ’26, has always had an interest in federal service.

“I really looked up to him as a person, and I wanted to also serve my country in some way,” he says.

Datto, a junior political science and Spanish double major at Saint Joseph’s University, researched various federal agencies and jobs, and decided to apply for an internship within the U.S. Department of State, an agency that advises the President and leads the nation in foreign policy issues.

“I think it’s so cool that these people are civilians but they’re representing our country in a way that’s just very unique compared to other government agencies,” he says.

Datto was accepted to the program after a lengthy background check and security clearance, and expected to spend his fall semester in Washington D.C. Then, just a few weeks before he was scheduled to leave, he was told he’d be working in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. 

The State Department’s internship program is highly competitive, attracting high achieving students from elite colleges and universities. To have a student land an internship in foreign service is rare, says Lisa Baglione, PhD, co-director of the Washington Center Internship Program and political science professor. 

“It's the prestige of landing a State Department internship out of country,” she says. “He was really like a junior officer, an entry-level position. But when I say it's entry level, I mean that's somebody who usually has at least an undergraduate degree, but often a master's degree, and has already passed all the hurdles, which are many and difficult to become a foreign service officer.”

When Datto started, the State Department had just four other interns living and working abroad. He was the only intern posted in Colombia, and he worked with 2,000 employees at its U.S. Embassy.

Every Monday of his 10-week internship, he combed through bills being introduced in Colombian parliament’s – there could be hundreds, he says – and translated them into English. He would then highlight legislation that could be important to the U.S. 

The rest of the week, Datto was out of bed by 5:30 every morning to read Colombia’s three most popular newspapers and translate and summarize key articles to share with his office. He also wrote reports and attended meetings with Colombian government officials.

This wasn't Datto's first international experience. Prior to transferring to Saint Joseph's, he spent the first half of his first year of college at Saint Louis University in Madrid, Spain, to hone his Spanish skills.

“Transferring to SJU was the best decision I ever made because I found a campus with a strong sense of community,” Datto says.

When Baglione met Datto in class the spring he arrived at Saint Joseph’s, he immediately stood out, she says.

“He's always been that kind of student who, and I don't say this lightly, is always prepared, who has thought really carefully about what was assigned,” Baglione says. “He's always ready and has really interesting insights and sees things that a lot of students don't see.”

As for Datto, he says that his high school and college Jesuit education was integral in his internship experience, and it will continue to be as his career progresses. Justice was a big focus of his work, interfacing with judges and getting to know the country’s court system. 

He says that he is unsure exactly what he’d like to do after graduation, but that he is interested in applying for the Fulbright Program or other internationally based programs. 

“And this internship has definitely increased my interest in the State Department and federal service, in general,” Datto says. “I want to learn more about different federal agencies before I make a big decision.”

He also credits his professors, including Baglione and her foreign policy class, which includes an assignment on writing policy proposals. 

Claudia Páez Lotero, PhD, assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Language and Linguistics, has taught Datto each semester he’s been at Saint Joseph’s, and she has helped him hone his language skills, he says. Datto also credits several courses in Latin American studies with Richard Gioioso, PhD, associate professor of political science.

“I’m really happy to represent St. Joe’s this way,” Datto says. “Our school is amazing. You can come from this school and do really cool things.”