Seven students participated March 14 in the first Politics Forum Presidential Crisis Simulation, hosted by the Politics Forum and the Center for Leadership.
Laura Roselle, professor of political science, acted as President of the United States, while students acted as various members of the President’s senior staff.
Participants in the simulation were Kirsten Holland ’13 as secretary of state, Julie Phillips ’15 as attorney general, Anthony Phillips-Spencer ’13 as secretary of defense, David Goltz ’13 as secretary of commerce), Omolayo Ojo ’15 as administrator of FEMA, Cara McClain ’14 as administrator of EPA and ’14 Heather Harder as White House press secretary.
The simulation, led by Chief of Staff Greg Honan ’14, research director Sean Wilson ’16 and co-crisis directors Greg Nantz ’13 and Josh McGee ’13, revolved around the Keystone pipeline, an arms-reduction deal with the Russian Federation and a terrorist attack near Chicago.
Students acted in real time to address the crisis at hand by presenting policy suggestions to the president, directing their respective departments, and gathering information and intelligence on the situation. This is the first of many simulations the Politics Forum hopes to host in conjunction with the Center for Leadership.