30th Anniversary Reunion Weekend
Thank you to eveyone who came. We had a great time! See the photos.
Special Events
Guest Speakers
The students of the Boston University Washington Internship Program are able to take advantage of special monthly lectures. These special events afford the students with a chance to talk to some of the most exciting authors and thinkers available in Washington DC. Books are often available for signing by the author after each event.
Spring 2007
Book Signing & Lecture
Kevin Merida & Michael Fletcher
April 10
Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher discussed their new book about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with Boston University Washington Center students. Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas looks inside the conflicted life of the second African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, who has been a hero to conservatives and a pariah in the black community.
“There’s something in the book for everyone. If you think he doesn’t belong on the U.S. Supreme Court and he’s done a great disservice to our country, you’ll find something in there to support your beliefs,” Merida said. “And, if you feel the opposite, you’ll find something in here that you agree with, too.”
Merida and Flectcher had to draw on interviews with Thomas’ family, friends and colleagues to paint their portrait. Thomas, a deeply private man, refused their requests for an interview. “He would say to us, ‘No offense buddy, I just don’t talk to the media.’”
Merida and Fletcher read and described vivid scenes in their book that show how race defined Thomas. On the day Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, a young Thomas was crushed when a fellow seminarian who was white yelled, "I hope the S.O.B. dies.” And, after graduating from Yale Law School, Thomas was aggravated when he received no offers from major law firms.
“He still keeps all the rejection letters in a tidy stack,” Merida told students.
Both Merida and Fletcher are Boston University alumni. They say they have been best friends since they roomed together in college and have always dreamed of co-authoring a book.
“It helped to renew our friendship in some ways,” Merida said.
Christopher Griffin- March 20
Recent developments in Asia will ultimately affect American strategy toward the region, especially China, Christopher Griffin, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said in a talk at the BU Washington Center March 20.
If the United States wants to continue to engage China on an economic level, Griffin said Americans will have to accept China's robust, anti-democracy. Griffin also posed the question: Is a more authoritative government more effective?
“What we want from China is also what we fear,” he said.
Griffin, who specializes in Southeast Asian and U.S. relations, also discussed the recent agreement on North Korea's nuclear program and China's involvement in those negotiations.
“North Koreans are the only Stalinesque regime left on earth,” he said
As the six-party talks over Korea enter a new stage, Griffin gave some scenarios as to how U.S. relations with other Asian countries will evolve.
“We have largely snubbed Japan in our policy,” he said.
Griffin speaks both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese and has studied in Japan. He regularly writes for AEI's Asian Outlook series and is also the associate editor of the Armed Forces Journal.
John Podesta, February 14
Success in the White House is achieved by starting with the end result in mind and developing copasetic relationships, a former White House chief of staff told Boston University students Feb. 14.
"You see the field of play, you know where the relationships are strongest… and you work the system, the tactics, the personalities, to get there," John Podesta, chief of staff during the Clinton administration, said.
Podesta also discussed the "seven days, 52 weeks a year" demands of working with Congress.
"The phone rings in the middle of the night because something is happening somewhere in the world," Podesta said, or in his case, he joked, "because President Clinton was a night owl." Podesta arrived at the White House three hours early every morning to "set up the day" before the President arrived.
Now president of the progressive think-tank CenterforAmericanProgress.org, Podesta cautioned students against the "swell-headedness" that overcomes those who work in Washington, D.C., and offered one more tidbit for success: "The humility with which you approach your job… the people who maintain a sense of that [humility] probably do a bit better."
Fall 2006
Chris Mooney, November 16
Science and politics intersected at the Boston University Washington Center as author Chris Mooney spoke about the attack on science by the federal government.
"It is a daunting task to discredit information given in a world of free speech," said Mooney, who dissected issues from stem cell research to global warming in his book “The Republican War on Science.”
"We have the right to evaluate politicians," added Mooney, and that is exactly what he has set out to do by spotlighting the governments tendency to glaze over legitimate scientific research.
Not only pointing the finger at government officials, Mooney recognizes that scientists "have to change the way they communicate about their work."
As a journalist, Mooney also puts accountability on the media. "It is journalists’ duty to help people understand; we need to reform the way the media reports science."
Mooney said the media can help the general public be more informed about scientific research and aware of legislation affecting science. From here, Mooney said, "people can make a difference at the ballot box, and I guess we did on November 7."
Ray Suarez, October 26
The collision of politics and faith in this country is transforming the attitude of American society, according to PBS News Hour senior correspondent Ray Suarez . With more than 25 years of experience, covering everything from immigration to education and politics, Suarez shared insight on his new book “The Holy Vote” during a visit Oct. 26 to the Boston University Washington Center. His book explores the polarization of American politics and how it has been inundated with debates over moral issues such as gay marriage, abortion and the display of the Ten Commandments.
Thomas Edsall & Tom Schaller, September 21
Authors Tom Edsall, left, and Tom Schaller spoke at the Boston University Washington Center on Sept. 21, 2006, about the midterm election. (Photos by Jill Connor)
While it’s true that the Democrats may take control of Congress in November’s election, the real test will be if they can sustain that hold, according to prolific political writers Tom Schaller (Daily Kos, The American Prospect) and Tom Edsall (Washington Post, Wonkette). The two writers, who come from opposite ends of the political aisle, spoke about upcoming elections in a discussion at the Boston University Washington Center.
Citing statistics from his book, “Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win without the South,” Schaller said that only three states voted differently in the Bush/Kerry election than in the Bush/Gore one, the smallest difference in over 200 years. He said he believes the Democrats can win the next presidential election without a Southern majority, as they almost did just that in 2000 and 2004. However, Schaller and Edsall (“Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power”) agreed that Republicans finish elections stronger than Democrats. “The Democrats didn’t have a closing argument in the 2004 election,” Schaller told the crowd of journalism and political science students.
C-Span filmed the discussion, which was moderated by Washington Center Director Linda Killian, for a later broadcast.
Receptions
Book signing receptions often follow speaker events and are open to all.
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