Simulating the White House situation room, students taking part in a May 7 program organized by the Politics Forum acted in various senior administration positions while Professor Laura Roselle acted as the President of the United States.

Students were in for a surprise when former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who stepped down in February, videoconferenced in to advise the group. The team spoke with McFaul about how to best conduct diplomatic relations with Russia and what the group could do about the crisis in Ukraine. 

McFaul is currently a professor of political science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He previously worked for the U.S. National Security Council as special assistant to the president and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs.

Toorialey Fazly ’14 served as secretary of state, Ryan Finn ’17 as secretary of defense, Stephanie Lamm ’17 as senior advisor to the president for intergovernmental affairs, Steven Armendariz ’17 as national security advisor, Laura Orr ’15 as attorney general, Austin Rhoads ’14 as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, Jill Capatosto ’14 as senior advisor to the president for communictions, and Lizzie Thomson ’17 as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

This is the third Presidential Crisis Simulation co-hosted by the Politics Forum and Center for Leadership. 

Simulation staff featured Greg Honan ’14 as crisis director, Julie Phillips ’15 and Allison Gloninger ’16 as assistant crisis directors, Cara McClain ’14 and Ray Haack ’14 as research directors, Mary Rouse ’15 as White House chief of staff, and Alex Vandermass-Peeler ’17 as White House deputy chief of staff.

Center for Leadership director Steve Mencarini assisted with design of the simulation and advised the group as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

David Wasserman, house editor for The Cook Political Report, will be speaking at the Politics Forum on Tuesday, April 16, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.  The title of his talk is “What Really Happened in 2012…and What Might in 2014.”  

Wasserman analyzes U.S. House races for The Cook Political Report and has served as an analyst on the NBC New Election Night Decision Desk. The event will take place in Lindner 210.  For questions, please email Greg Honan (ghonan@elon.edu).

Participants in the simulation were Kirsten Holland ’13 as secretary of state, Julie Phillips ’15 as attorney general, Anthony Phillips-Spencer ’13 as secretary of defense, David Goltz ’13 as secretary of commerce), Omolayo Ojo ’15 as administrator of FEMA, Cara McClain ’14 as administrator of EPA and ’14 Heather Harder as White House press secretary.

The simulation, led by Chief of Staff Greg Honan ’14, research director Sean Wilson ’16 and co-crisis directors Greg Nantz ’13 and Josh McGee ’13, revolved around the Keystone pipeline, an arms-reduction deal with the Russian Federation and a terrorist attack near Chicago.

Students acted in real time to address the crisis at hand by presenting policy suggestions to the president, directing their respective departments, and gathering information and intelligence on the situation. This is the first of many simulations the Politics Forum hopes to host in conjunction with the Center for Leadership.