Dartmouth Experts Discuss the New Administration

The following is an excerpt from a January 10th Dartmouth Now article.

Dartmouth is convening a week of panel discussions leading up to inauguration day that will feature the College’s leading voices on education, immigration, the budget, terrorism, trade, health care, and energy policy, addressing the “Opportunities and Risks” of a Trump presidency.

The panels are organized by four major themes—domestic issues, global issues, health policy, and energy and the environment—to run over four days from Tuesday, Jan. 17, to Friday, Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office.

Director Andrew Samwick participated on the Tuesday panel titled “Domestic Issues: Governance; Immigration; Education; and the Budget.”

Samwick believes the forums are an opportunity to think rigorously about some of the changes under discussion by the new administration.

“It is important to understand and clarify what your principles are as a scholarly community for evaluating public policy, and other aspects of society, because there’s a sense that these things will be challenged over the next four years,” says Samwick, the Sandra L. and Arthur L. Irving '72a P’10 Professor of Economics and the Social Sciences.

“For example, much is being made over likely changes in immigration policy under the new administration. We happen to have on campus Professor Richard Wright, who is one of the foremost scholars on immigration and communities of immigrants in the United States. We thought it would be interesting to bring to bear his perspective on that,” says Samwick.

Dartmouth scholars have been in the forefront of policy discussions in connection to past inaugurations, including a symposium hosted by President Emeritus James Wright “Reflections on the 2008 Campaign: Challenges for the New President,” This event featured presentations by alumni including the Rev. Leah Daughtry, ’84, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman ’78.

In addition, the Rockefeller Center has hosted public discussions related to public policy in the administrations of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and after the fact, Ronald Reagan. Shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama, the Rockefeller Center hosted a discussion on the topic of “The Obama Administration’s Trade Policy: Old Wine in New Bottles?” featuring Irwin, the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor in the Social Sciences, and Tuck dean Matthew Slaughter, then an associate dean for the MBA program.

Read the January 10th article by Dartmouth's Office of Communications in full here.