From Harvard Square to the Oval Office: Journeys to Political Office

While various career paths for graduate students exist, a call to public service compels many to pursue political office.  From Harvard Square to the Oval Office (“Oval Office”) provides students with not only the tools to run for public office but the opportunity to reflect on their political aspirations and explore that journey further. 

At this year’s Oval Office Welcome Breakfast in October 2009, Representative Lori Ehrlich (D-MA 8th Essex), a keynote speaker and an Oval Office alumna, called politics “a passionate pursuit.”  She discussed the importance of women having a “story” and being able to share their story with others.  Representative Ehrlich then revealed her own journey to public office through grassroots activism.  She told the students that Oval Office gave her the confidence and skills to be the candidate and called on the students to run themselves.

Barbara Lee, a staunch, lifelong supporter of women’s political participation, talked about the importance of programs such as Oval Office during her discussion with this year’s cohort.  She shared her own story about how her grandmother inspired her to work with candidates, voters and activists towards women’s empowerment.  “Democracy is better when women’s voices are heard.” 

Barbara Lee speaking with Cohort 2010 member Marie-Ange Bunga (MC/MPA '10) Photo by Nicole Carter Quinn

Training programs such as Oval Office help educate women about elected office and inspire them to run.  At the WAPPP Gender and Politics Seminar in September 2009, Professor Susan Carroll, Professor of Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, discussed how women candidates face an unequal and gendered political landscape.  Women candidates grapple with the balance of being viewed as too tough or too nice and too attractive versus not attractive enough.  Their families are also scrutinized more heavily than male candidates. In addition, women more frequently contend with perceptions of inexperience, even though they are more likely to have attended campaign trainings and skills-based workshops. Programs such as Oval Office can help give women an advantage when they enter the political arena. 

Victoria Budson, WAPPP’s Executive Director said, “In order for us to obtain women’s equal representation in our political structures, it will require the will of many.  Through the Oval Office program, WAPPP trains the best and the brightest to ensure that more women have a seat at the table to make policy decisions and enact change.”

Oval Office is an initiative of WAPPP that provides a select group of Harvard graduate students with the training and support they need to ascend in the electoral process at the local, state and national levels.  Now in its sixth year and with over 200 alumnae, WAPPP's goal is to fill the political pipeline with women, striving towards equal representation in government.

From Harvard Square to the Oval Office is made possible through the generous support of the Barbara Lee Women and U.S. Politics Training Program and Lecture Series Endowment Fund, Joanne Egerman, and the Beatrice Koretsky Bleicher Memorial Endowment Fund.

FURTHER READING

Oval Office featured in the Harvard Kennedy School News: Sheila Lalwani (MPP ‘09), an Oval Office alumna, shares her experience as an Oval Office Intern this past summer in Senator Ted Kennedy’s office and how his call to service impacted her career trajectory.
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