Former United States President Joe Biden will speak at the Politics Institute on Wednesday afternoon for a study group outside the record with his longtime advisor Mike Donilon, a spring scholarship holder at IOP.
Biden’s planned appearance on campus was confirmed by a guest and several members of the IOP.
The visit comes as national Democratic leaders, including former President Barack Obama, applaud Harvard’s decision to reject the Trump administration’s requests. The White House moved to freeze $ 2.2 billion in federal funding in Harvard a few hours after the president of the University Alan Mr. Garber ’76 is committed not to “go”.
Harvard Kennedy School selected students were invited to the study group with Biden on Tuesday afternoon, but were not informed of the details of the event or who was the guest. They were asked to arrive at the John F. Kennedy Jr. forum between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The event was not published in advance on the Institute of Politics website. Students who serve as associates in Donilon – and who are generally guaranteed access to study groups – have not been invited to the event, according to a member of the IOP.
A spokesperson for the Harvard Kennedy School would not confirm the presence of Biden in HKS on Wednesday. A Biden spokesperson could not be joined to comment.
HKS has tightened security in anticipation of the event, ending access to the first floor of the John F. Kennedy Jr. forum from midday. An e-mail sent to the affiliates of HKS allocated the closures to “a private iop event for a visitor”.
The invitation told participants to expect “screening similar to what you could experience at an airport”.
—The writer Elise A. Spenner can be contacted at Elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow it on X at @Elissenner.
