IOP Interim Co-Directors Emphasize Nonpartisan Mission, Say Institute is Broadening Conservative Outreach

Harvard Institute of Politics co-directors Ned C. Price and Beth E. Myers said the IOP is making a concerted effort to bring more conservative voices to campus — an effort they argue is essential to preserving the IOP’s nonpartisan mission.

Their push comes amid longstanding criticism that Harvard and its political programming skew left — and as the IOP searches for its next director with a renewed emphasis on preserving its nonpartisan mission.

Price said the IOP regularly meets with conservative student groups and works with them to shape programming, including suggesting speakers and events.

“It would be a failure if a certain segment of students, whether on the right or the left, felt that they didn’t have a home here,” Price said.

Myers said those conversations have already influenced programming decisions. Conservative podcast host Emily Jashinsky visited campus for a recent lunch discussion after conservative students suggested inviting her, Myers said.

“Inviting her was a result of a conversation we had with some of the conservative students, and she was fabulous, and she had a great time here,” she said.

According to Myers, Jashinsky initially questioned whether the institute was welcoming to conservatives.

“She said, ‘Is this place a friendly place for conservatives?’” Myers said. “I think she came away feeling like, yeah, I really like this place, and I feel very open and very comfortable.”

The outreach reflects a broader effort by IOP leadership to reinforce the institute’s identity as a politically neutral forum — a stance that has been debated in recent years.

In 2024, then-IOP President Pratyush Mallick argued in an op-ed in The Crimson that the institute should abandon its nonpartisan status following the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack. Mallick wrote that when democratic norms are under threat, institutions like the IOP should not remain neutral.

Then-director Setti Warren rejected that argument, writing in a Letter to the Editor to The Crimson that the institute’s educational mission depends on maintaining nonpartisanship and exposing students to competing viewpoints.

Price said he agrees with Warren’s position.

“I think this place needs to be this idea of a front porch — welcoming to all, not exclusive, not exclusionary, and a place where perspectives across the spectrum can be heard,” he said.

Price and Myers said they are also expanding smaller, informal events that bring students into direct conversation with political figures. The institute now hosts near-daily lunch discussions with visiting speakers — programming the directors say has quickly become one of the most popular parts of the IOP’s calendar.

“Some of the best conversations I’ve been in on this campus take place in that room almost every day over lunch,” Price said.

The directors also pointed to their own partnership — Price previously served in Democratic administrations, while Myers worked in Republican politics — as a model for the kind of cross-partisan engagement they want the institute to foster.

“I don’t see myself as the Democratic director and Beth as the Republican director at all,” he added.

Instead, he said, the goal is for the IOP to remain a space where students from across the ideological spectrum feel comfortable engaging with politics.

“We want to give real meaning to the idea that President Garber has put forward — that this is the front porch of Harvard University,” he said.

“We want this place to be welcoming, inclusive to everyone and anyone, and to be the place where people come to learn about politics, to be exposed to it, to hear more about policy, and ultimately, where they can feel comfortable sharing and learning too,” Price added.

—Staff writer Sophia E. Alcacer can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at sophiaalcacer.88. Follow her on X at @sophiaalcacer.

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.