Red and Blue, Back in the Yard

BY: SIMON FARRUQUI ’29

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg ’04 and former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy will join the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics as Spring 2026 Visiting Fellows, the organization announced on Jan. 21. These fellowships are part of the IOP’s Fellows and Study Groups program, which brings public leaders to the University’s campus for small-group discussions with undergraduates.

The fellowships come at a time when the University has been involved in ongoing discussions with federal officials, situating this semester’s programming within a broader national conversation about higher education. Most recently, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit on Feb. 13, seeking admissions records as part of a Justice Department investigation into whether Harvard has complied with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision barring race-conscious admissions. The presidential administration has demanded extensive applicant-level data, including race, academic metrics, and internal evaluation factors, arguing it is necessary to assess compliance with civil rights laws. Harvard has claimed to respond “in good faith” while defending what it describes as unlawful government overreach.

Against a backdrop of federal scrutiny and national debate over higher education, applications to IOP programs have surged, and students continue to pack the JFK Jr. Forum for high-profile speakers. Since 1966, the IOP—and FSG in particular—has convened public servants, political operatives, journalists, and policymakers for weekly, small-group conversations with undergraduates, offering students direct access to the people shaping national life. Students sit around a table and ask the fellows direct questions about what worked, what failed, and what they would do differently in their respective careers. 

This spring, these discussions will span a wide ideological divide. Students who have followed Buttigieg and McCarthy through campaign speeches, cable news clips, and social media posts will now have the opportunity to engage with them face-to-face. Rather than watching politics unfold from a distance, undergraduates will be able to hear directly from the figures impacting national politics.

Buttigieg returns to Cambridge with both a national profile and deep Harvard roots. As a History and Literature concentrator from the Class of 2004, he was active at the IOP, where he chaired the Student Advisory Committee and worked on the IOP’s national survey of youth attitudes toward politics. He later earned a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. 

Before entering the Cabinet, Buttigieg served two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, first elected at age 29 and then deployed to Afghanistan as a Navy Reserve officer. He later went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 2021 to 2025, where he oversaw the rollout of tens of thousands of infrastructure projects tied to federal investment packages, expanded airline passenger protections, and became a leading public voice on supply chain disruptions during the pandemic recovery.

For some students, Buttigieg’s appeal lies not only in his national profile but in his roots—words that ring true for Krishaan Vadia ’29, who will serve as a liaison for Buttigieg’s study group.

“I think the best part of FSG is connecting with people that you have shared experiences and interests with,” Vadia said in an interview with the “Independent.” “As a fellow Hoosier involved in Indiana state-level and gubernatorial politics, I felt a strong connection to both Pete Buttigieg’s early political career and many of our shared identities and lived experiences.”

Vadia, who has worked with Indiana mayors and conducted policy research related to economic development, said Buttigieg’s time as mayor of South Bend was particularly compelling. While many focus on his rise to national prominence, Vadia is more interested in Buttigieg’s beginnings, he explained.

Beyond participating in discussions, Vadia hopes to take on a more active role this semester. After serving as an associate for Fall 2025 Resident Fellow and former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb last semester, he will now help coordinate and shape the logistics of Buttigieg’s time on campus. “Last semester, my role was more learning and absorbing a lot of information,” he noted. “But as a liaison this semester, hopefully I can take a more active role in shaping some of his time here.”

In a statement released through the IOP, Buttigieg reflected on his own time as a student engaging with the Institute’s programming. “The IOP has played a vital role inspiring countless students, including me, to believe in the value of public service,” he said. “Empowering young people to participate in politics has never mattered more, and I’m thrilled to be returning to a place where I learned so much.” His visit also coincides with his role as a Spring 2026 Hauser Leader at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. 

McCarthy’s path to the Yard was different but no less consequential. As the 55th Speaker of the House, he secured the gavel after a historic 15-ballot vote in Jan. 2023, an event that underscored the ideological fractures within his own party. During his speakership, McCarthy touted efforts to secure deficit reductions while keeping the federal government funded and emphasized long-term competition with China, including the creation of a Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Tea Shouldice ’29, who will serve as a liaison to McCarthy’s study group, explained that part of the draw was the opportunity to engage with a leader who navigated internal party conflict firsthand. “He had a position very high up in our government and had interesting interactions with the more radical wing of the Republican Party,” Shouldice said in an interview with the “Independent.”

For Shouldice, the appeal is not ideological alignment but intellectual expansion. “It’s definitely a way to challenge my views and expose myself to a wider range of perspectives,” she said. “They’re all just different versions of looking at the same idea. How can I broaden my mindset?”

She added that McCarthy’s leadership experience during moments of instability particularly interests her. While government courses often focus on theory, she said, real-world politics rarely follows a script. “Government classes can teach you the expected outcome very easily,” Shouldice continued. “But when things don’t go as planned on the ground, how you recover from that—I think that will probably be a focus of our study group.”

Describing his previous visits to the IOP, McCarthy emphasized the role of students in shaping the next phase of American politics. “Every time I’ve visited Harvard’s Institute of Politics, I’ve been inspired by the students’ commitment to understanding and engaging with the political system as it exists today and how it can evolve in the future,” he said. “I’m looking forward to spending a week on campus this spring to share my experiences with this next generation of leaders.”

Simon Farruqui ’29 (simonfarruqui@college.harvard.edu)is eager to join the conversations in this semester’s Fellows and Study Groups.