Last Thursday and Friday, The Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies hosted the fifth annual ‘America’s Role in the World’ Conference.

The gave students the ability to participate in discussions with real-world leaders about the issues surrounding America at this time. The list of guest speakers and panelists included former Ambassador William J. Burns, Senator Todd Young, Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, and CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker.

The conference covered various topics, from relations with China and the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic to the 2020 election and how polling data is read in today’s ever-changing demographics.

Indiana Senator Todd Young began the day by speaking on current challenges that await the United States Senate in 2020 and then wrapped up by addressing student’s concerns with the Coronavirus pandemic.

Immediately following Todd Young’s panel, hosted by former WTHR anchor John Stehr, more than one-hundred students and community members went to the main hall to hear the largest panel of the conference, on Presidential Elections and U.S. Foreign Policy. Panelists included Whit Ayers, Geoffrey Garin, Allison Stanger, Bill Whitaker, and moderated by Fox New’s Marie Huff.

The discussion covered some serious topics and differing opinions, but panelists were able to listen and even laugh through the disagreements.

Early in the discussion when asked about his take on the 2020 election and all the drama with democratic candidates and the infighting within the democratic party, CBS New’s Bill Whitaker kept it short and simple:

“I have no clue what is going on.”

However, the largest and final highlight of the conference came Friday afternoon with the appearance of one of the star witnesses in the President Trump impeachment hearing, former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich. It was just her second public appearance since the hearings. President Michael McRobbie and Dean of the Hamilton Lugar School Lee Feinstein presented Marie Yovanovitch with a bicentennial medal, one of the University’s highest honors.

Yonvonavitch, who was arguably the most notable speaker of the day,  touched on honesty and integrity in politics and how the names Lee Hamilton and Dick Lugar, Namesake of the Global School, are synonymous with those values.

“We really wanted to bring her to campus, not only because of her national prominence and her dignity,” Feinstein said, “But to also give our students and our broader community to see what the source of that was.”

Feinstein said Marie Yovanovich’s record speaks for itself. “What she did on national television a few months ago doesn’t come from pulling an all-nighter. This is based on three decades of very high-level professional training, service, and expertise.”

Indiana University Junior, Mike Pitz, found the conference to be enjoyable.

“I think it kind of just inspired me to attend more of these events. If I have the opportunity to hear from a congressman or woman, Senator, or even a local politician, I should take that opportunity.”

Global School Dean Lee Feinstein says the conference has a lofty goal each year.

“The Hamilton Lugar School has become a place that convenes major figures, leading voices, in foreign policy issues from a range of different perspectives and to conduct intellectual, substantive, and serious debates in a way that speaks to the legacy for the two individuals in which the school is named.”