The Spire

Nathan Howard ‘25

Editor-in-Chief

On March 18, 2025, SPEECH Peer Educators hosted a Dialogue Dinner in the Hogan Ballroom that was tailored to the politics of public health. This specific Dialogue Dinner was one of four events related to the multi-day campus residency of Dr. Anthony Fauci  ’62, Hon. ’87 and his wife, renowned bioethicist Dr. Christine Grady. 

According to SPEECH Peer Educators, Dialogue Dinners are designed to allow students the opportunity to “share a meal and to share views on contentious topics in an environment where the “rules of engagement” allow everybody to feel respected and heard.” Previous Dialogue Dinners centered student discussions around the 2024 United States Presidential Election, the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, as well as the role of reproductive education in Catholic universities. At these events, students are assigned to tables with peers who share different experiences and beliefs on a particular topic, in order to encourage healthy dialogue. A SPEECH peer educator is present at each table and is responsible for facilitating the discussion. 

The March 18 Dialogue Dinner on the Politics of Public Health was very unique from the previous SPEECH events for numerous reasons. Notably, the dinner was preceded by a panel discussion with distinguished Holy Cross graduates within the realm of medicine and public health. The panelists included Dr. Anthony Fauci  ’62, Helen Boucher, M.D. ‘86, Michael Collins, M.D. ‘77, and Capt. Michael Kavanaugh, M.D. ‘97. The panel was joined by Maile Sit ‘25 and Dr. Helen Boucher served as the panel’s moderator. 

In addition to Dr. Fauci’s celebrated contributions to the realms of medicine and public health through his notable work as the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases, the additional panelists also cultivated impressive medical careers since their time at Holy Cross. Dr. Michael Collins is currently the UMASS Chan Medical School Chancellor and is the longest serving chancellor in the history of the University of Massachusetts. In this role, he has spearheaded two five-campus life sciences strategic planning processes and continues to guide the strategic direction of the University’s growing life and health sciences portfolio. Capt. Michael Kavanaugh is an intensivist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD and the course director of the Military Tropical Medicine Course. He also was the Officer in Charge of Rural Rapid Response Team 34 for COVID relief in Texas. Dr. Boucher is a physician and infectologist who currently serves as both the Dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine and the Chief Academic Officer of Tufts Medicine. She is the first woman to hold this position. Additionally, as of 2022, she is also the first woman to be elected Chair of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees. 

The panel discussion was centered around questions related to how each panelist handled different stages of the pandemic from within their respective positions. Each panelist was given the opportunity to discuss the impacts of their initial decisions at the start of the pandemic, as well as reflect on how they would approach things differently from today’s perspective. Additionally, the panelists were able to provide their thoughts on the role of government and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic response efforts. As a member of the panel, Maile Sit ‘25 also provided answers to these questions, offering a student’s perspective on the pandemic and the government’s response. 

Following the panel discussion, each panelist joined students and faculty members at a table for the Dialogue Dinner, which was initiated with a blessing by Holy Cross President Vincent Rougeau. For the Dialogue Dinner portion of the evening, SPEECH Peer Educators asked the students, faculty, and panelists at their tables to answer and discuss a series of questions related to the government’s role in public health as well as the future of public health policy in the United States. These discussions allowed students the exciting and rare opportunity to engage directly with the accomplished panelists regarding issues of great importance to both the medical and political spheres. Dr. Anthony Fauci was the panelist assigned to my table and being able to engage in public health policy dialogue with such a decorated and transformative figure will be remembered as one of the most incredible experiences of my undergraduate years at Holy Cross.

Featured image courtesy of College of the Holy Cross