Elections are a busy time at the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy. Dvora Greenberg Koelling knows the process well. In the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, Greenberg Koelling — who serves as public programs and special events assistant director — has been helping to coordinate the public programming for the 2024 Election Speaker Series. The series, in partnership with GOVT 30.17/PBPL 24, “The 2024 Election,” has brought national political figures, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to campus this fall. The Dartmouth sat down with Greenberg Koelling to discuss her career, work at the Rockefeller Center and the rollout of the speaker series thus far.
Tell me about your position at the Rockefeller Center.
DGK: My whole ambition coming into the position was to try and match or supplement the curricular side of what Rocky is doing — and integrate that into the co-curricular side. So, we work with our faculty members to figure out what they’re teaching, what they’re passionate about and who they want to bring to campus. There’s a four year cycle for every undergraduate student. We take the election cycle and the cycle of a student at Dartmouth and make sure that we are providing them with really incredible opportunities through our public programming.
What is your role in planning the 2024 Election Speaker Series?
DGK: Government professors Herschel Nachlis, Russell Muirhead and William Wohlforth — in partnership with former vice president for government and community relations Emma Wolfe, when she was here — created a concept of what might be done in the fall from a curricular standpoint. We knew there was going to be a public programs aspect to the 2024 Election course. We were thinking the speakers would both be incredible assets to the curricular aspect of what the course is teaching, and people could also have a really engaging conversation.
What was the process for deciding who to bring to campus?
DGK: We had a very long wish list. We came up with the first tier of speakers that we wanted to approach, and I am amazed to say that many of the speakers that were in that first tier agreed to be part of the course and the public programs. We started working on that outreach early in the election cycle in order to secure them, so we were a little bit ahead of the curve in that regard. We wanted to land on a really meaningful slate of speakers who could talk about national and international issues, the Constitution and the election.
You have procured a number of notable political figures for this series. How do you go about bringing someone like Pence or Fetterman to campus?
DGK: It started off with a letter of invitation. We have established connections with some speakers, and we had to work on establishing connections with others. The process was all over the map in terms of outreach, but it really began with that letter of invitation that spoke to the series and the intention of the series. We presented speakers with a template of what we envisioned the engagement to be, which included the public program, the classroom visit, lunch with student leadership and a dinner with faculty. That way, they were able to see and experience a full array of where Dartmouth is at this moment in the election.
You have talked about the importance of integrating the curricular side of learning with the co-curricular side. Why is it important for students to hear directly from speakers with real-world experience in policy and government in the classroom?
DGK: The value that speakers bring with real-world experience is immeasurable, but I also think they bring human value. A lot of times, our politics tend to be slightly removed from us. When we bring these incredibly intellectual but also really experienced human beings to campus to talk to students as leaders, policy makers and academics, they’re talking both from their experience and as human beings. I think for the students to see how different experiences shape different perspectives on a wide variety of policies is incredibly important.
What has been the most rewarding part of this process?
DGK: During the event with Sen. Fetterman, we had Alexander Azar III ’25 from the Dartmouth Conservatives and Bea Reichman ’27 from the Dartmouth Democrats co-moderating the conversation. I think it may be my favorite experience in the five years that I’ve been here, watching the two students — who come from very different political perspectives — helping one another while they were crafting the questions to ask Sen. Fetterman. They made sure to ask challenging questions and questions that would be relevant to the student community, but also they encouraged each other and worked together to create a really meaningful conversation with the Senator. Just being able to see that gave me a lot of faith.
You have had many diverse life experiences, from working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles to attending art school and being a mother. How has your life experience contributed to your work at the Rockefeller Center?
DGK: I definitely don’t take things for granted. I want my children to know that I’m doing work that’s important, and that I’m supporting other people and young adults in a really important way. Mommy’s going to work every day to do something she loves and to do something that is bringing benefit to others. I could not be happier doing the work that I’m doing. I also feel incredibly grateful for the students I get to work with every day. The benefit that I receive from that is having an enormous faith in this coming generation of leaders, thinkers and policy makers. I feel like my children are actually in good hands, because we have such an incredible generation that’s rising and ready to take on the challenges that are in this world.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
