About 25 Student Across UCLA Campus Meet With Senior White House Official

United States National Security Advisor Susan Rice speaks
with a group of UCLA students, who were invited to meet
the high-ranking government official

About 25 undergraduate and graduate students from a wide range of schools and majors across the UCLA campus had an unprecedented opportunity Friday afternoon to sit down with United States National Security Advisor Susan Rice for a closed-door, informal conversation about foreign policy and fulfilling careers in public service.

While a convoy of shiny black SUVs and California Highway Patrol cars waited outside the School of Law and a Secret Service detail stood guard inside the building, Rice took time during a visit to Los Angeles to talk candidly with students about a mix of foreign policy matters currently in the headlines as well as details about her personal life and career.  The discussion was moderated by Kal Raustiala, law professor and director of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations.

Before taking up her current post in the Obama administration in 2013, Rice served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, among the many roles she has taken on during her 23-year career in public service. Rice served in the Clinton administration at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1997.

The private meeting, which lasted for over an hour, came about at her request. Her team reached out to Raustiala at the Burkle center at UCLA to arrange a meeting with students who have  strong interest in public service careers.

"Ambassador Rice was, I think, seeking a forum in which to engage with and inspire our best and brightest interested in careers in public service," Raustiala explained. "I know she cares about making the White House, and the foreign policy establishment in general, look more like America. And UCLA," with its diverse student population, "is an outstanding place to do this."

After the meeting, students said they were surprised at the breadth and depth of the discussion and were thrilled at the chance to get an inside look at United States foreign policy from such a high-ranking official.

"She's the most famous person I've ever shaken hands with," a Ph.D. student in political science said, laughing.

Raustiala said this was the first time he could recall that a sitting national security advisor had visited with UCLA students.

"I hope the students learned that public service is a great career and a great calling," he said after the meeting. "And I hope they learned a bit about how tough decisions are made in the White House and what issues are most pressing and on the mind of the president."