Mike McCurry is a retired communications consultant, political advisor, and seminary professor residing in Kensington, Maryland. McCurry has nearly four decades of experience in the nation’s capital. McCurry served in the White House as Press Secretary to President Bill Clinton (1995-1998). He also served as Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State (1993-1995) and Director of Communications for the Democratic National Committee (1988-1990). McCurry held a variety of leadership roles in national campaigns for the Democratic ticket from 1984 to 2004 and worked as a Press Secretary in the United States Senate from 1976 to 1983, serving Senators Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). 

McCurry is also a former member of the governing board of the Wesley Theological Seminary where he serves as Director and Professor at the Seminar’s Center for Public Theology. McCurry has served on several boards or advisory councils including Share Our Strength, the Children’s Scholarship Fund, the White House Historical Association, and the Global Health Initiative of the United Methodist Church.  He is former Co-Chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which organizes the fall general election debates between the major candidates for President and Vice President of the United States.   

McCurry received his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University in 1976 and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University in 1985 in addition to his MA degree from Wesley Seminary which he received in 2013.

Robert Gifford ’01 is an award-winning journalist, producer and media executive, with more than two decades of experience in news, television and digital media. He is currently the Vice President and Managing Editor of CBS News Streaming, where he oversees live programming, news coverage and day-to-day editorial. Gifford joined CBS News in 2016 and has since launched the network's flagship political program as well as its 7am morning show. He steered the stream's rebrand efforts in 2022 and has overseen its election and special events coverage, its response to countless breaking news stories and has overseen the relaunch of the network and the rollout of  its new New York-based studio.

Nicholas Wu ‘18 is a Congressional Reporter at POLITICO. He's covered the congressional response to the coronavirus pandemic and President Trump's impeachment trials, among many other issues on the Hill. He previously worked as a Congressional Reporter and a breaking political news reporter at USA TODAY and as a fellow at National Journal. He has appeared on radio and television programs including MSNBC, CBSN, and BBC and CBC affiliates to provide political analysis.

A native of Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, he currently lives in Washington, D.C. He graduated with honors from Princeton University, having majored in the School of Public and International Affairs and minored in East Asian Studies and American Studies. As an undergraduate, he served as the Head Opinion Editor of the Daily Princetonian and the Managing Editor of China Hands Magazine.

Gabriel Debenedetti '12 is the national correspondent for New York Magazine, where he writes profiles, feature stories, and regular dispatches about politics and national affairs. He is the author of The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama (2022), which the New York Times called a "careful chronicling and insightful examination" and the Washington Post called "rivet[ing]" and "a treat." Before joining the magazine in 2018, he covered elections, the White House, and Capitol Hill for Politico and Reuters. A frequent guest on MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, BBC News, and NPR, his writing has also appeared in publications including the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and the Economist. He has covered three presidents, interviewed dozens of presidential candidates, and reported from 49 states and three continents. He served as editor in chief of the Daily Princetonian while an undergraduate at Princeton, and he now sits on the paper's board of trustees.

This is part of the Princeton in Washington program, which is open to current Princeton students and recent alumni in the D.C. area over the summer. Email the Princeton in Washington coordinator to learn the location and RSVP.