Hempstead, NY-(ENEWSPF)- Donay Lewis, a resident of University Park, served as a student host during Hofstra University’s 13th presidential conference. The school hosted The Barack Obama Presidency: Hope and Change in April.
Lewis and fellow students were on hand to assist visiting scholars, journalists, and government officials. The event at Hofstra discussed the administration, policy making, and legacy of Barack Obama.
Conference guests included Senior Advisor to President Valerie Jarrett, White House Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Philip M. Schiliro, and Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times Peter Baker.
The Barack Obama Presidency: Hope and Change was presented by the Hofstra Cultural Center, the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency. Parts of the conference were at the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs. This was in conjunction with the Barack Obama Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration, and the Obama Foundation.
Conference Tradition on U.S. Presidents Continues
The event continued Hofstra’s long and distinguished tradition of hosting conferences on the administrations of every U.S. president. This tradition has existed since the university’s founding in 1935, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt forward. The University has published articles and commentary from every conference. These have become standard scholarly volumes and early oral histories of each presidency.
In recent years, the University has built a reputation for programming, research, and scholarship on the nation’s highest office. Hofstra established the Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies, and in 2015, the Kalikow School of Government, Policy, and International Affairs.
This focus on the presidency includes the appointment of two senior presidential fellows. Both bring rich professional experience and unique insights to classes, lectures, and other campus events. Hofstra political science alumnus Schiliro ’78, and Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, became senior presidential fellows in 2021.
Hofstra is the only university to host three consecutive presidential debates (2008, 2012, and 2016). In all, six presidents have visited the campus.
“Hofstra University takes great honor in this tradition of hosting presidential conferences,” said Hofstra President Susan Poser. “Since the first one in 1982, the conferences have provided Hofstra students, faculty, and the general public opportunities to meet and learn directly from those who have had a hand in shaping our nation’s history.”
About Hofstra University
Hofstra University is an internationally ranked and recognized private university in Hempstead, N.Y. Hofstra is a dynamic community of nearly 11,000 students dedicated to civic engagement, academic excellence, and becoming leaders in their communities and careers. Our campus is a leafy oasis just a quick train ride from New York City and all its cultural, recreational, and professional opportunities. We offer small classes and personal attention with a large university’s resources, technology, and facilities.
Students can choose from more than 165 undergraduate program options and 175 graduate program options in the liberal arts and sciences, education, health professions, and human services, the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
