by Will Kaback ’20, Editor-in-Chief

On Oct. 15, The Right Honourable David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016, visited Hamilton as the 2018 Sacerdote Great Names speaker. The day culminated in a question-and-answer session with College President David Wippman in the Margaret Scott Bundy Field House at 7:30 PM. Cameron joined Margaret Thatcher as the second former British Prime Minister to speak on campus.

Cameron’s first official event on campus came at 4 PM, when he visited Professor Alan Cafruny’s “Europe in World Affairs” and Professor Kira Jumet’s “Introduction to International Relations” classes in the Red Pit for an hour-long question-and-answer session with students.

Sam Gause ’21 a student in Professor Cafruny’s “Europe in World Affairs” class, said he found Cameron to be an “eloquent and likable individual.” Gause said he asked the former Prime Minister “whether he thought the European Union (EU) should intervene in Hungary and Poland’s slide to authoritarian governments, given the lack of press freedom and judicial independence, and what form an intervention could come in.” Gause added that Cameron’s visit helped him to further connect with his course material, saying, “His experience [as Prime Minister] proved invaluable, as many questions dealing specifically with regional issues were his bread and butter. I gained deeper insight into several issues.”

Nadav Konforty ’20, Student Assembly President and another member of Professor Cafruny’s class, said he was struck by how “well spoken” Cameron was, saying, “Even though I disagree with most of what he believes he says it all in such a compelling way. Listening to him was as much a lesson in political oratory as it was in government and policy.”

Konforty, who is writing his term paper for the class on the UK’s vote to leave the EU at the end of Cameron’s time in office (colloquially called “Brexit”), added that speaking to a former leader with a direct, significant connection to the issue was “a very special opportunity.” Still Konforty said he wished that Cameron would have “‘turn[ed] off’ the politician part of himself and just to talk[ed] to students”, calling some of his answers to student questions “obfuscative.”

Cafruny said that other questions asked by students included: “The ethics of British arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the impact of austerity on society and politics, British military intervention in Libya, the growth of right-wing populism in Europe, the U.K.’s relations with former colonies, and U.K.-Russia relations.” He added that “both classes were well prepared for the session.”

The main event, though, was Cameron’s talk with President Wippman in front of an engaged Fieldhouse audience. Prior to his entrance, the building lights dimmed and music faded in as two large screens on either side of the stage played a short video chronicling Cameron’s rise to the top of Britain’s Conservative Party, his election as Prime Minister, and a variety of major world events he presided over during his tenure, including his role in addressing the UK’s economic downturn upon taking office, the 2012 Summer

Olympics in London, and the 2016 UK referendum vote to leave the EU, the outcome of which led to his stepping down as Prime Minister.

Cameron and Wippman took the stage to the tune of Florence + The Machine’s “Shake It Out” and started off on a humorous note, with Wippman acknowledging the rainy weather and “enthusiastic but slightly damp audience.” Cameron, for his part, quipped, “I’ve seen the musical, now I get to visit the college.”

Wippman steered the conversation towards more serious policy issues, asking Cameron about his initiatives to “modernize” the Conservative Party as Prime Minister. Cameron spoke generally about the importance of focusing on the efficient delivery of healthcare, education, and welfare services, as well as championing traditionally-progressive issues like same-sex marriage and improving the representation of women and minorities in the party.

One of the most intriguing moments of the night came when Wippman broached the question of Brexit. Although the vote led to his resignation, Cameron said he did not think it was a mistake to call it, citing growing frustrations among the population regarding the widespread use of the Euro as the main currency of the EU, immigration concerns, and the perception that the UK was contributing more than its fair share to the EU’s political activities. Calling Britain a “reluctant tenant”, he said that although he campaigned in favor of staying in the EU, he respected the outcome of the vote — 52–48 in favor of leaving.

Cameron, when prompted, also gave an assessment of President Donald Trump, saying that despite disagreeing with him on all fundamental issues, he viewed Trump’s election as a symptom of broader issues involving populism and globalization. He stressed the need for US leadership in addressing issues like global terrorism in a “rational” way.

A similar vein of conversation centered around the recently-published

The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World

, written by Robert Kagan P’20. In the book, Kagan asserts that liberal democratic international order is at risk, pointing to “the jungle” of dangerous world actors who reappear throughout history in the absence of leadership on the part of world powers like the United States. In response to this the, Cameron once again pointed to economic and cultural tensions derived from an increasingly globalized world. Though he remained optimistic that democratic order would prevail, he called on governments to direct their attention to the causes and potential effects of populist movements that may be growing among their populations.

Wippman concluded the event with a “lightning round” of light-hearted questions oriented towards the students in attendance. He asked about notable courses Cameron took while a student at Oxford, his interests in college, and his relationship with Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, with whom he met privately on a weekly basis while in office, a long-standing tradition.

Cameron is the latest in a long line of previous speakers brought to campus by The Sacerdote Series, named in recognition of a significant gift from the family of Alex Sacerdote, a 1994 Hamilton graduate.