An examination of the COVID-19 response will kick off the Summer with Sine series at the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics next week, with future sessions to focus on Congressional bipartisanship and the 2022 elections.  

Andy Slavitt, former White House COVID-19 coordinator, is the first guest, joining Sine Institute’s executive director Amy K. Dacey at noon on Friday, June 17 for an event entitled Preventable: A look Inside the Coronavirus Response.

The second event will see Dacey chat July 19 with former Congressman Will Hurd, R-Tex., who served as a clandestine CIA officer before entering politics, for a conversation that will focus on his book American Reboot: An Idealists Guide to Getting Big Things Done.

On August 18, the series will conclude with a pre-election panel featuring four former Sine fellows – former Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, food policy expert Katherine Miller, conservative writer and commentator Bill Kristol, and AU alumna and journalist Janet Rodriguez. 

“The main focus of Summer with Sine is to bring compelling speakers to share their experiences and perspectives with students, alumni, and our community,” Dacey said. “In this crucial election year, Andy Slavitt will take us inside the White House Covid response, Will Hurd will share some great insights into what the Republican party should look like in 2022 and beyond, and then we’ll enjoy hearing political analysis and election predictions from our distinguished Sine experts.”  

The Sine Institute is partnering with the AU Alumni Association for the conversations and with the AU College Republicans and the National College Republicans for the event with Hurd. 

“I think we want to have conversations about finding a consensus, solving problems, and taking on challenges,” Dacey said. 

The summer series follows the third class of Sine Fellows to weather interruptions from COVID-19. The 2020 class of fellows started in-person but had to go completely virtual following the rise of the pandemic in March 2020. The 2021 class stayed completely virtual, but the 2022 class had some in-person events, so none of the past three classes have had the same experience. 

“We had a great class,” Dacey said. “They all said they had a great experience. I did exit interviews with them all, and they all recommended the program. 

“But there were challenges. Some weeks, we could be in person, and then other weeks it didn’t work out that way. I think most of the regrets we heard were they didn’t get to interact with the students and each other as much.” 

Dacey said she is constantly recruiting for Sine fellows and the Institute’s 2023 class of Sine Fellows will be revealed in November. In the meantime, the institute will celebrate its four-year anniversary in September. 

Register for the Summer with Sine series.