IOP Study Groups Woo Students at Spring Open House

A former governor of Massachusetts and a reporter from The New York Times were among the visiting fellows advertising their spring study groups at the Institute of Politics’ (IOP) open house at Loker Commons last night.

The weekly study groups are primarily led by visiting and resident fellows of the IOP, including Jane M. Swift—who was governor of Massachusetts from 2001-2003—and Times reporter Katherine “Kit” Seelye. Many include a number of guest speakers and field trips.

“[The open house] is the most important publicity event of the semester.” said Brian Goldsmith ’05, who is the fellows committee chair of the IOP.

Seelye said she hopes several planned field trips to New Hampshire and New York, as well as her own experiences as a reporter in Washington D.C., will engage students in her group, “The Invisible Primary.”

“I’m going to try to go behind the scenes. I plan to describe what you don’t see on TV and how candidates raise money and get campaigns together,” Seelye said.

Students also had the chance to speak one-on-one with the fellows at the event.

Social studies concentrator Emily L. Nielson ’04 decided to use the opportunity to speak to the former governor about her thesis.

“I’ve found talking to different people about my thesis is helpful. Swift obviously has a great deal of knowledge,” Nielson said. Nielson also said that she was impressed with the open house in general.

“I’m really excited about the group. They are great individuals, but collectively their diverse interests provide something for everyone,” she said.

A visiting fellow, Swift will be one of a number of speakers for the “Women in Politics” group, one of the few led by students.

The group, “Our Voices, Our Issues, Our Politics Is Now!” will create a report of what young people think will convince their peers to vote, said IOP fellow Melanie L. Campbell, the group’s leader.

“The sessions are strategy sessions,” said Campbell, who is executive director and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. “They are discussions sharing ideas about merging the volunteer and youth political movements. It’s about putting the service back into public service with ideas coming from young people.”

“What’s great about her group is the students will actually be producing something and doing research,” Goldsmith said.

According to Goldsmith, the open house is aimed toward undergraduates and particularly first-year students, because it introduces them to the IOP.

“Once people meet fellows and see how exciting the topics are, they almost always go to the study groups.” Goldsmith said.