Julius Johnson ’89 is fighting in Afghanistan; his weapon is diplomacy. Johnson is a political officer with the United States Department of State.  He says, “I serve in Helmand province, and am responsible for providing political analysis of politics at the provincial level to the American Embassy in Kabul,” he explains. Previously he was the only civilian on a District Stabilization Team (DST) in Khas Kunar, eastern province.  “There I engaged in good governance initiatives, mentored several district-level governors and provided English language training to 200 internally displaced children,” he says.

Not exactly the kinds of things most Laurentians end up doing, or the place where most end up doing them. But Johnson says his SLU education prepared him well.

St. Lawrence gave him the opportunity to study in Kenya, the government major says, explaining that “there I was exposed to a different culture, which instantly internationalized my thinking.”  Another SLU attribute that he mentions is “small classes, which allowed me to be heard and challenged. The resources in the library and my participation on the men’s basketball team and in the Black Student Union and my service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, helped me think critically and nurtured in me a desire for service.”