Student Groups Prep for DNC

As Boston readies itself for next week’s Democratic National Convention (DNC), those still in Cambridge will be able to choose from a variety of student-run political events courtesy of Harvard organizations.

The Harvard College Democrats will play host to a bevy of college students flooding the Boston area.

The student group will hold the opening night of the College Democrats of America (CDA) convention, an undergraduate outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee.

The opening ceremony, which begins at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the IOP, will officially kick off the convention for the CDA.

Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic National Committee and Dean for America Chair Steve Grossman, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and political commentator Arianna Huffington are slated to speak at the event.

Also on the agenda is a video address from Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.

The Institute of Politics (IOP) has a number of its own events on tap for the upcoming week, as well as some for the Republican National Convention next month.

“[Planned IOP events] run the gamut from a taping of ‘Washington Week in Review’ to a series of policy events to convention-watching parties that are open to all students from across the country,” said Ilan T. Graff ’05, president of the IOP’s Student Advisory Committee.

In hosting these events, Graff said, the IOP hopes to “make convention week memorable, informative and inspirational for all college students in Boston.”

The IOP will also hold panel discussions featuring University President Lawrence H. Summers, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government David T. Ellwood ’75 and fall IOP fellow Joe Trippi, who managed the recent primary campaign of former Vermont Gov. Howard B. Dean.

And for students like College Dems President Andrew J. Frank, the DNC signals a prime opportunity to get a first-hand taste of politics.

Among the handful of Harvard undergraduates interning at the DNC, Frank said he sees his job as a communications intern as a “perfect fit for the summer,” as the position enables him to stay in Boston and participate in the DNC.

Other Harvard College Democrats members, like Brittani S. Head ’06, will be volunteering at the convention. Head will check delegate passes at the FleetCenter.

Jessica R. Rosenfeld ’07 will also be working access control.

Rosenfeld wrote that this year’s DNC marked the first chance she had to attend a presidential convention.

“After campaigning for three months for John Edwards in the primaries I need to see the culmination of the year in person,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Matthew J. Glazer ’06, chair of the Undergraduate Council’s Student Affairs Committee, said he hopes to do his part volunteering through Democratic GAIN, an organization that promotes campaign work as a profession.

The group, Glazer said, will be holding trainings on campaign strategies.

And Thomas M. McSorley ’06, who is working for the transportation department of the DNC, admitted that his job had several perks.

“On the selfish side, I wanted a chance to be part of the action, hopefully catch a glimpse of the candidates and the Clintons, etc.” he wrote in an e-mail. “More importantly, this election and party have become my passion. Other than working at the convention, I’m spending my summer working for the Kerry campaign in my hometown in Pennsylvania. I wanted to play a small part in the convention and help out in some way, wherever they decided they needed me.”

Though his volunteer position consists primarily of “driving a golf cart at the FleetCenter for disabled/elderly convention goers and assisting golf cart coordination,” McSorley said he expects to be in the thick of things.

“From what I’ve heard, the conventions are filled with energy and excitement. My main goal is to meet a lot of fellow Democrats who are at the convention and volunteering with me, and just enjoy the excitement over John Kerry and his nomination,” he wrote. “I will be working inside the FleetCenter, so I should be amidst plenty of important Democrats and regular people who are delegates and there for all kinds of reasons. The place will be buzzing.”

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.