The Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service announced its fall class of fellows on Wednesday, highlighting a group of political, advocacy and media figures from all sides of the political spectrum.
The fellows consist of Jonathan Burks (SFS ‘99), who served as former Chief of Staff to Speaker Paul Ryan and the Deputy Policy Director for the 2012 Romney-Ryan campaign; former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer (COL ‘81, P ‘17); Olivia Alair Dalton (COL ‘06), the Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the Human Rights Campaign and former spokesperson for Michelle Obama; ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers (COL ‘00, MA ‘03); and Equislabs co-founder Stephanie Valencia.
Based in the McCourt School of Public Policy, the program aims to connect students with policy and media experts to facilitate discussions and develop a better understanding of the changing political and media environment.
Throughout the semester, the fellows work with student-led strategy teams, who help with planning, researching, and promoting events. Applications for student strategists are open to all university students through September 8.
The fellows will hold weekly discussion groups throughout the fall semester, focusing on various media and policy issues. They will also hold weekly office hours. Discussion groups and office hours are open to all students.
According to Mo Elleithee, GU Politics’s Executive Director, “The fellows help pull back the curtain on politics, helping to shed light on how it really works, and exploring with students how to make it work better.”
The selection process for fellows, which has been competitive since the program’s inception in 2015, resulted in a record number of Georgetown alumni selected this year.
“We seek out fellows…who we know can bring diverse perspectives and help enrich the Georgetown student experience. It’s extra special that four of the five are Hoyas themselves,” Ellethiee said. “We hope the entire campus community takes advantage of their discussion groups and office hours.”
