I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and you're listening to The Sunday Story,
where we go beyond the news to bring you one big story.
A few weeks before graduating from Duke Kunshan University,
senior Liam Powell received a letter he'd been anticipating from the U.S.
State Department.
Dear William N. Powell, thank you for your interest in an internship with the U.S.
Department of State.
Liam was a global health major and he'd interned at the United States Agency for International Development,
or USAID.
So when he saw there was an internship with the State Department, he applied and he was chosen.
But then came a federal hiring freeze.
We regret to inform you that the U.S.
Department of State has canceled the summer 2025 cycle of the student internship program.
In accordance with the president's executive order,
entitled Hiring Freeze and the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management's Joint Memorandum,
the department hereby rescinds your tentative offer to participate in the student internship program.
We wish you success in your academic career.
The email came to me March 14th this year, so pretty far down the line after the hiring freeze.
A couple of weeks ago, he walked across the stage at his graduation.
Liam Powell.