While serving as a presidential host during her senior year at Brown, Pamela Janairo '06 met Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and actress Phylicia Rashad. Though she enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with high-profile figures, she said many of her best encounters through the program came with people who run the University from behind the scenes, particularly members of the Brown Corporation.
"They constantly gave me advice about my future and (talked) to me about life beyond Brown and even the future of Brown," she said.
The formation of the presidential hosts program was announced in December 1998, when the University selected 10 students to serve as "University ambassadors" at events sponsored by then-President Gordon Gee and to "act as hosts and help staff events involving everyone from community leaders, faculty and visiting dignitaries located at the President's House and elsewhere on campus," according to a University news release from Dec. 15, 1998.
"We try to get lots and lots of different types of people," said Director of University Events Cynthia Schwartz, who helps select the hosts. Currently, 24 students participate in the program.
Schwartz said she has been eager to select students from different backgrounds in order to give visitors a sense of the diversity of the Brown community.
This year, for example, the program selected a recent transfer student and a student who attended high school in Providence.
Many guests engage the hosts in lengthy conversations that touch on everything from their backgrounds to their experiences at Brown, according to Jeffry Esquivel '09, who recently met William Twaddle, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, through the program.
Esquivel spoke with Twaddle for over 20 minutes during the Oct. 6 dedication of the Sidney E. Frank Hall for Life Sciences. During the course of the conversation, Esquivel learned that Twaddle's brother attended Hope High School, his own alma mater.
"You get to meet so many influential people and have the opportunity to share your story with them," Esquivel said.
Esquivel's story is a particularly interesting one for presidential guests, Schwartz said. He spent much of his childhood in Guatemala, where he lived with his grandmother for 12 years after his parents left to seek a better life for their family. When he was 16, Esquivel finally joined his parents in Providence.
He attended Hope High, a school notorious for its high dropout rates and students' poor performance on standardized tests. When he first started at the school, he did not know English. But with the help of Hope's English as a second language program, he became fluent and eventually was admitted to Brown.
Esquivel is just one of several presidential hosts with an interesting background, according to Schwartz.
"Every student we meet has a great story," Schwartz said.
In addition to their personal background, students are also picked for the program because of their on-campus involvement at Brown. Geoffrey Stetson '07 became a presidential host after being nominated during his sophomore year. During his first year at Brown, he was involved in a number of clubs, including the Special Events Committee. He has also participated in the Brown Outing Club, the Meiklejohn Advising Program and the Orientation Welcome Committee and has served as a teaching assistant for a number of classes.
Similarly, Janairo was nominated for her participation in many different programs. While attending Brown, she was a Minority Peer Counselor and president of the Filipino Alliance. She also helped manage events at the Third World Center.
Though there is a lot of diversity among the presidential hosts, several said that all participants in the program have some traits in common.
"They all have confidence and the ability to hold a conversation," Stetson said.
These kinds of traits are evaluated during the application process, which starts around January with nominations. In order to find students who would best serve the program, Schwartz said she sends an e-mail to numerous University officials and staff members - including deans, professors and chaplains - who then respond with suggestions.
This year, the program introduced a new element to the nominations process by asking current hosts to suggest friends or acquaintances. Esquivel was one of the new hosts selected after being nominated by a current host.
When nominations come in, students are informed that they have been nominated and must then decide whether they want to continue with the application process. Other students also take the initiative by contacting the University and asking how to apply. All prospective hosts fill out a paper application and complete an interview. New hosts receive word of their selection a few months after the nomination process begins in January.
The time commitment for selected hosts is very flexible, as they get to choose which events they attend. Many of the hosts also continue to take on other extracurricular commitments.
Some, however, come to realize that the events can take up a lot of time, especially during the evenings. Janairo said she became overwhelmed with activities during her sophomore year and decided not to continue work as a host. After that year, however, she gladly accepted another nomination because she was free of some obligations and was excited to work during her last year at Brown.
"I gained exposure and experience, and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of unique people," Janairo said.
Schwartz said she is currently pleased with all the hosts for this year, though she is always looking for more students. She expressed interest in finding a Resumed Undergraduate Education student as a presidential host but has been unable to so far.
Schwartz added that the program is a good fit for students who are committed to the job and realize that not all of the work will be glamorous. Students often take on seemingly menial tasks such as ushering and hanging up coats at events.
However, even if it's not entirely all glamorous, some current presidential hosts are still amazed by the experience.
"I can't believe it's a job," Stetson said.
