As election day is around the corner, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP), had a busy October. Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassadors planned and coordinated events open to the Saint Anselm community and took part in several exciting opportunities.
NHIOP events committee co-chairs Caroline Mara ’24, and Hannah Ross ’24, hosted the second Finding a Common Ground event for the year where students discussed: “Should the drinking age in the United States be lowered?” The ambassador-led event open to all Saint Anselm College students is a student-only discussion about topics important to ambassadors.
October was also full of presentations from faculty and students. Communication Professor Chani Marchiselli, Ph.D., gave a presentation to students entitled “Aspirational Publics: Women’s Periodicals and 19th Century Discourse Networks.”
NHIOP ambassadors worked and observed the Manchester of Commerce gubernatorial and congressional debates hosted at the Institute the last week of October. Andrew Barbetto ’23, a senior politics major was the official timekeeper during the gubernatorial debate while other ambassadors were runners for candidates’ teams. The Institute hosts the U.S. Senate, Governor, and Congressional debates November 1-4 partnering with WMUR News 9.
Concluding October, NHIOP partnered with the student group Respect the Nest for a Pizza and Politics event hosted by civic engagement co-chairs: Alyssa Stankevitz ’23 and Ellie Duffin ’25. Held in the NHIOP West Wing, Jim Martin, Public Information Officer of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, (NHDES) discussed with students the ongoing environmental crisis of New Hampshire and his own political journey. Martin regularly speaks to the press and prepares employees for speaking to the public. He also worked in Congress for several years for former Congressman Charlie Bass.
As the end of the semester approaches, NHIOP ambassadors have final events for the semester in November. They plan on ending the year with an ambassador party in December.