David R. Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), said that Edwards’ campaign on poverty was an unusual project for a former politician.

“John Edwards is the first major American politician who has taken a hard, strong stance saying we should eradicate poverty in America,” he said, adding that he would not rule out the possibility of seeing Edwards on the campaign trail again. “I think a lot of people who were here were impressed that he’s taking on an issue that was once at the core of the Democratic party’s policy and has slipped over the past 20 years.”

T.J. Schuck, a fourth-year medical student at Tufts, said that although he was encouraged by Edwards’ poverty campaign, he had some reservations.

“I think the most privileged people aren’t going to go out on a limb to campaign and to really push for these objectives that he wants,” he said.

Harvard School of Public Health student Nihar R. Desai said that he thought Edwards’ experience would help the effort to eradicate poverty.

“I think Senator Edwards is the perfect person to inspire people and to bring stories to people across the country and to be the leader on this initiative,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Edwards spoke with College and KSG students at Kirkland House. He also met with a group of 10 students who presented him with a policy paper on issues of poverty.

“He was very enthusiastic about it,” said Brittani S. Head ’06, communications director for the Harvard College Democrats, the group that drafted the paper. “He said he was looking for student ideas and seemed to agree with much of what we presented him with.”

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.??