79 JFK AND BEYOND

Rubbing Elbows While We Learn
Two Alumni Recap the Annual Dean’s Conference

By Gail Murray MPA 1992 and Lisa-Joy Zgorski MPP 1993

Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News anchor…Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state…Robert Blackwill, deputy national security advisor for strategic planning…Alice Rivlin, former director of the Office of Management and Budget…

These were a few of the luminaries headlining the Dean’s Conference on April 30 and May 1. The full list was a testament to the political influence of the Kennedy School and its connections to power. As conference participants, we got that old tingle we used to get at the forums, rubbing elbows with well-known decision makers who directly shape public policy.

“Decision 2004: What Is at Stake at Home and Abroad?” heavily focused on Iraq and the upcoming presidential elections. During the opening plenary session, several speakers pointed to the strong divisions within our country. David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership, summed it up by citing the motto E Pluribus Unum, “We have too much pluribus and not enough unum.” John Sununu, former chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush and a visiting professor at the Kennedy School in the fall, noted that the system is stressed because the world is in transition between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the United States as the single superpower. As a result, he said, the November election will be crucial in defining how we want to run our country.

Keynote addresses took place during lunch and dinner in a huge white tent in the park next to the school. Speaker after speaker saluted retiring Dean Joseph S. Nye, Jr., commending his able leadership of the Kennedy School. Dean Nye stepped down on June 30 — “on the same day that self-leadership is turned over to the Iraqis,” he quipped. Incoming Dean David Ellwood was given an enthusiastic reception. About 350 participants feasted on salmon salad at lunch while Armitage discussed Iraq as both a military and civilian mission —“boots and loafers on the ground,” he said.

The evening steak dinner featured Dean Nye and Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, debating “America’s Role in the World.” Nye stated that preemptive force has been used in the past, but it “opened a Pandora’s box”
when it was used in Iraq for a threat that wasn’t imminent. Nye, author of Soft Power, compared the United States to “a two-year-old with a hammer, where every problem is a nail.” Haass, author of The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States after the Cold War, countered that the preemptive strike policy used in Iraq is justified because the Bush administration “can’t afford to be wrong.” He said we would pay a considerable price, “but compared to what?” he said. “What would have been the price if we hadn’t done it?”
The day-and-one-half conference also featured panels on homeland security, international perspectives on the U.S. election, the global economy, the uninsured, the budget deficit, media “bloggers,” and national security policy. But the highlight for both of us was the offering of three case studies led by Kennedy School faculty.
I (Gail) chose the case “Return to Three Mile Island: What Have We Learned about Crisis Management in 25 Years?” Dutch Leonard skillfully led us through what the politicians and the operators of the nuclear facility might have done better. The alumni-rich room included knowledgeable people who deal with crises today, such as a woman from the Centers for Disease Control and an Air Force pilot with nuclear training. At the session’s end, Leonard said that, because of the experience in the room, he had received unique responses that had not emerged from the many other times he had taught
the case. And that drove home what I valued most about my Kennedy School experience: it’s the lessons you learn from interchanges with the amazing people you meet.
In that same spirit, another moment reminded me (Lisa) of why there are few more enriching places than the Kennedy School to spend a spring weekend. Near the end of a panel session on the budget, a woman rose and offered insightful comments on women in business. Few had thought more than to consider the comments on their face value. The next day at a session in the Forum, Emily Card MPA 1981, a new member
of the Alumni Executive Council, approached the microphone. She began with a survey, first asking who among the men, then among the women, had heard of the company Joan and David. The disparity was notable but predictable (my closet boasts much footwear from this maker of practical but stylish women’s shoes, yet male counterparts wouldn’t recognize the label). She then introduced “Joan,” a member of the Women’s Leadership Board and founder of Joan and David, who took to the podium to offer her comments. I had had a conversation in the ladies room with this remarkable woman between sessions. Now that kind of access and learning is what being at the Kennedy School is all about!
Gail Murray MPA 1992 is first vice chair of the Kennedy School Alumni Executive Council and a member of the board of the Kennedy School Northern California Alumni Association. She
is president of Gail Murray Consulting.
Lisa-Joy Zgorski MPP 1993 has just completed her second term
on the Alumni Executive Council and is a chair of the board of the Washington, DC, Alumni Council. She is principal of LJZ Strategic Communications.