IOP Alumnus Goes Back to Roots

C. M. Trey Grayson ’94 is suffering from a serious case of déjà vu.

As the new director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, he lives in Kirkland House just like he did as a Harvard undergraduate 20 years ago.

He recently attended a study break thrown by his entryway’s tutor and shared snacks with Harvard undergraduates.

Occasionally, he even sees Bob, the security guard he used to meet in the hallways in 1993.

"Sometime, I’m like Rip Van Winkle and it’s exactly the same. But I don’t recognize anybody—all my friends are gone," Grayson says.

After graduating from Harvard, Grayson moved back to Kentucky, his home state, to study law. He eventually served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State and launched a bid for the U.S. Senate under the Republican banner last year. When he lost the race, Grayson decided to go back to his roots. He moved back to campus in January, this time as the new director of the Institute of Politics.

HARVARD BOUND

Grayson first visited Harvard as an eighth grader and promptly decided he wanted to apply.

Grayson was admitted to the class of 1994 under Harvard’s Early Action program. He was assigned to Weld Hall and later moved to Kirkland House with five of his closest friends.

"He was the glue that held us together," says Chris Wood ’94, who shared a suite with Grayson in Weld.

Wood says Grayson was a great moderator and often took the lead in his group of friends. His roommates turned to him whenever they needed to know "which roommate should get to date the cute girl we all [had] just met, and how late to stay at Wellesley parties before the last ‘Cuddle Shuttle’ left for Cambridge," according to Wood.

Grayson and his roommates also loved to play pranks, according to Philip M. Grant ’94, who lived with Grayson all four years of college. Grant recalls a particular winter break when he and Grayson moved all their neighbors’ furniture around while they were absent.

Yet, Grant says, Grayson was particularly self-conscious about getting caught.

"It was remarkable to me how he never wanted to get into trouble," Grant says. "We don’t have any incriminating evidence [against him]."LOFTY AMBITIONS

Grayson first told his future roommates about his passion for politics when he wrote them during the summer before their freshman year, according to Wood.

"He quickly announced his intention to become president," Wood says.

When Grayson later found out he was living in John F. Kennedy’s room in Weld, he put up a poster of the former U.S. president on his wall.

As an undergraduate, Grayson also cross-enrolled at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he took classes on financial regulations and health policy.

His interest for politics led him to attend his first forum at the IOP in 1990. The event—titled "Personal Perspectives in Politics"—raised his interest in the institute.

Grayson quickly got involved with the IOP and eventually became the Vice Chair of the Student Advisory Committee.

He says the IOP helped him develop the bipartisan approach to politics he became known for as a politician. He identified as a Democrat during his undergraduate years, yet his experience at the IOP exposed him to a wide range of political views.

"Almost everyone here has a [specific] point of view, but we [all] care about politics for its own sake," Grayson says.

THE ROAD TO THE STATE CAPITAL

Although Grayson had always had an interest in politics, the final impetus to begin his political career came over a burrito. He was working as an attorney at the time and had gotten involved in local politics while organizing an event during President George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. During the event, he became close with a group of local political organizers, who would be instrumental in his later political career. And it was a lunch invitation from one of these friends that began his career as an elected politician.

"One day I get this email. The subject is ‘Lunch at Joe’s?’ and the body of the email said ‘Topic: Grayson for [Secretary of State]. Time: 11:30’ and I replied ‘Time: good, Location: good, Topic: not so good," said Grayson. "But we went anyway and ... that was sort of where it was hatched."

Typically someone without political experience cannot decide to run for a state-wide office and win on their first try. But Grayson benefited from the Republican party’s unfortunate luck in the state of Kentucky. For decades before Grayson ran for office, Democrats had consistently won all of Kentucky’s constitutional offices, from Governor to Secretary of State. Because of the Democratic party’s near monopoly on state power at the time, few career Republicans wanted to dedicate their time running for office, leaving a void for a 31-year-old with no past political experience.

Grayson was sworn in as Secretary of State of Kentucky in 2003 and was the youngest Secretary of State in the nation at that time. During his time in the position, Grayson focused on moving many of the state’s services online.

Although Grayson says that he enjoyed his time in office, he acknowledged that the job is not necessarily as advertised.

"You have to put the work in. So many candidates run for office because they think of the glamour and the glitz and it’s not that. It’s really hard, but it’s really rewarding too," Grayson says.

FROM STUDENT TO DIRECTOR

Grayson says he first learned about the IOP Director position when he was running for Kentucky’s Senate seat, but he did not think that he would apply. But after losing the primary in the race for Senate, Grayson reconsidered his decision.

Grayson’s appointment was announced in January and he started when students returned to campus for spring semester.

Going into his first days at the IOP, Grayson was far from a stranger, which helped him immediately jump into his daily activities.

"I felt more comfortable on day one at the IOP than I did on day one as Secretary of State," Grayson says.

IOP President Jeffrey F. Solnet ’12, who has worked closely with Grayson since he assumed the post, says that Grayson’s past experience as a student involved at the IOP allowed him to "hit the ground running."YOUNG FOR THE ROLE

Not content with having been the youngest Secretary of State in the country, at age 38, Grayson is one of the youngest Directors in the IOP’s history. However, students overwhelmingly say that they are not concerned about Grayson not being experienced enough to hold the position.

"His experience as undergrad is pretty recent so he’ll be able to connect to students," says Michael W. McLean ’12, president of the Harvard Republican Club. "Youth is only a positive."

Solnet says that Grayson’s breadth of political experience at such a young age provides an inspiring example for students involved at the IOP.

"The IOP is about encouraging young people to go into public service and politics," Solnet says. "Because [Grayson] is a younger person who has done so much, there is no better person to represent the organization than that."

—Staff writer Monica M. Dodge can be reached at mdodge@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Ariane Litalien can be reached at alitalien@college.harvard.edu.