New Hampshire Institute of Politics
Marc Ambinder, political editor of The Atlantic, described the role Saint Anselm plays in national politics by saying, "no one runs for president without speaking at St. A's New Hampshire Institute of Politics." For over the past forty years, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) has played host to hundreds of presidential aspirants that have delivered policy speeches at Saint Anselm College. It was founded on the basis that "educated and engaged citizens are vital for a healthy democracy." The NHIOP houses the Politics department, as well as providing classroom space for use by all departments. The institute is credited with raising the national profile of the college by incorporating the college in the New Hampshire primary, the first primary of the United States presidential election.
The Institute was founded in 2001 through a nine million dollar grant which was secured by then U.S. Senator Judd Gregg from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The idea of the Institute came from a series of conversations between Professors Kuehne and Manuel of the politics department and assistant vice president Anne Botteri. All involved believed in the potential that the college could harness from the New Hampshire primary through the college's traditions and location. In December 1995, Fr. Jonathan DeFelice asked Professor Manuel, as chairman of the politics department, to chair a committee to study the question and to make recommendations. A proposal was presented to the board of trustees by fellow trustee and former Massachusetts Senate president Kevin B. Harrington. Passing by a unanimous vote, the Institute was constructed in 2000 and dedicated on September 7, 2001.
The Institute consists of a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) building built in 2001. The Institute contains six classrooms, four seminar rooms, an auditorium, television studio, offices for the college's department of politics and Institute administration, the Common Ground cafe, a research center, and a computer lab. All of the classrooms are "smart classrooms" equipped with interactive whiteboards, LCD projectors, and built in audio and video equipment. The television studio is the only live video production and broadcast studio in the Greater Manchester area. Television journalists can interview individuals, including Saint Anselm's experts, politicians, business and civic leaders, remotely from the studio without requiring a TV crew on site or the source to travel to the network. Operated in partnership with VideoLink, the studio is equipped with ReadyCam technology that allows VideoLink to control the camera and lighting remotely from their Boston headquarters.
The Washington Post recently referred to Saint Anselm College as "the Benedictine college with a box seat on America's most riveting political theater", as the college and institute have both played major roles in the New Hampshire primary. CNN contributor and former Harvard Institute of Politics chair Jennifer Donahue was the institute's political director from 2002 to 2009. The current director of the institute is Neil Levesque.
Steve Scully, host, senior producer, and political editor of C-SPANs Washington Journal, is among the directors of the institute.
The Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassador Program is an academic program through the New Hampshire Institute of Politics; it is named after the late Massachusetts State Senator Kevin B. Harrington, who was a member of the Saint Anselm College Board of Trustees and an instrumental force in the creation of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics itself. Student Ambassadors play an important role in supporting special events, giving tours of the institute, welcoming and introducing presidential and congressional candidates, public figures and a range of scholars who headline the institute's special events and public programs.
The Public Advisory Board, established by Father Jonathan DeFelice in 2008 seeks to help the Institute expand its role in both state and national dialogues. Board members include U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (Chair), former United States Congressman Paul Hodes, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (Vice-Chair), 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker, Jr., Time magazine's Mark Halperin, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, and John Bridgeland, member of the White House Council for Community Solutions.
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