Former Obama Staffers Join IOP

UPDATED: January 17, 2017 at 10:03 p.m.

Six new fellows—including a longtime former member of Congress and a former speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama—will lead weekly study groups at Harvard’s Institute of Politics this spring.

The resident fellows are: Gina McCarthy, a former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency; Christopher Shays, who represented Conn. in the U.S. House of Representatives for over two decades; Jon Finer, the former chief of staff at the Department of State and a speechwriter for Vice President Joe Biden; R. Gil Kerlikowske, the former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Sarah K. Hurwitz ’99, a former special assistant to the President and Michelle Obama’s chief speechwriter; and T.W. Shannon, a former member of the Okla. House of Representatives. Chosen by the IOP staff and an undergraduate advisory committee, the fellows will host office hours and seminars for students throughout the spring semester.

The IOP will also take on three new visiting fellows this semester, who will host periodic discussions on campus. The non-residential fellows are Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. Senator; Peter Shumlin, the former governor of Vt.; and Ray Mabus, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy under President Obama.

A majority of the Spring Fellows have national public service experience, whether in elected bodies—such as the House of Representatives—or appointed positions in the Obama administration. The fellows arrive in Cambridge shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, whose election in November surprised many and rocked the political establishment.

The 45th president enjoyed scant support among Harvard undergraduates. Only 6 percent of respondents to a Crimson election survey administered in the fall voiced support for Trump, compared with 87 percent for Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. In August, the College’s Republican club publicly disavowed then-candidate Trump, and IOP Director Margaret “Maggie” A. Williams took an unpaid leave of absence from the Kennedy School to serve on Clinton’s transition team.

Hurwitz and Ayotte, two of the fellows, have had direct contact with the 2016 presidential candidates. Hurwitz served as chief speechwriter for Clinton during her 2008 presidential tilt. Ayotte, meanwhile, faced scrutiny over her pro-Trump comments during her unsuccessful Senate re-election bid against Democrat Maggie Hassan.

“Our Spring Fellows offer our undergraduates and the Harvard community a great range of expertise and leadership experience in foreign policy, national security, border protection, environmental policy, state governance, congressional strategies, White House policy-making and much more,” Williams said in a press release.

—Staff writer Lucas Ward can be reached at lucas.ward@thecrimson.com. Follow him on twitter at @LucaspfWard