IOP Names New Fellows for Spring Semester

A new semester brings not only new classes but also a new gaggle of fellows and study groups to the Institute of Politics (IOP).

This Spring’s fellows were publicly announced last week and are currently setting up camp in their new IOP digs.

The new class of fellows contains journalists and politicians and the first married fellows, Lynda and Charles Robb. Charles is a former Democratic Senator and Governor of Virginia and Lynda, who is the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, is a children’s literacy advocate.

David E. Pryor, the director of the IOP, and a student committee are charged with the responsibility of recruiting IOP fellows. He described the selection system as a “marriage process,” where the students try to figure out which candidates would work best as a fellow and which topics are most relevant or interesting.

Pryor said that, “the students interview fellows, and ultimately, if they don’t want a particular fellow, we have no need to bring him.”

For their part, candidates rarely need much convincing to join the program, Pryor said.

“Most people at first decline the offer, saying, ‘no, I’ve got too much to do.’ But then we invite them to come up and experience the IOP first-hand, and seven times out of 10 they say, ‘I’m gonna rearrange my schedule and come down there.’”

At the IOP, the fellows’ jobs include meeting with students, attending events and teaching a study group on a subject related to their field.

Callie Crossley, an Emmy award-winning media personality, will be leading a study group on the media’s perspectives and biases. This is not Crossley’s first trip to Harvard—in 1983 she spent a year as a Nieman Fellow.

“I’m already jazzed up on my first day back,” she said yesterday.

Crossley says she is excited to discuss the media with students and have the opportunity to “explain why” she and her colleagues cover stories in the way they do.

Fellow Bill Hillsman, the CEO of North Woods Ad Agency, gained national attention for his advertising campaigns for Gov. Jesse Ventura (I-Minn.) and a parody of Mastercard’s “priceless” ads for Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential bid.

A study group discussing the Bush administration’s first year in office will be lead by Juleanna Glover Weiss, the former press secretary for Vice President Dick Cheney.

Charles Robb will be leading a study group entitled “the politics of defending America” and Lynda Robb will lead a study group focusing on children of politicians and the media scrutiny that they encounter.

The IOP will host an open house to introduce the new fellows and showcase their study groups tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Ticknor Lounge.