C. M. Trey Grayson ’94 is suffering from a serious case of déjà vu.

As the new director of the Harvard Institute of Politics, he lives in Kirkland House just like he did as a Harvard undergraduate 20 years ago.

He recently attended a study break thrown by his entryway’s tutor and shared snacks with Harvard undergraduates.

Occasionally, he even sees Bob, the security guard he used to meet in the hallways in 1993.

"Sometime, I’m like Rip Van Winkle and it’s exactly the same. But I don’t recognize anybody—all my friends are gone," Grayson says.

After graduating from Harvard, Grayson moved back to Kentucky, his home state, to study law. He eventually served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State and launched a bid for the U.S. Senate under the Republican banner last year. When he lost the race, Grayson decided to go back to his roots. He moved back to campus in January, this time as the new director of the Institute of Politics.

HARVARD BOUND

Grayson first visited Harvard as an eighth grader and promptly decided he wanted to apply.

Grayson was admitted to the class of 1994 under Harvard’s Early Action program. He was assigned to Weld Hall and later moved to Kirkland House with five of his closest friends.

"He was the glue that held us together," says Chris Wood ’94, who shared a suite with Grayson in Weld.

Wood says Grayson was a great moderator and often took the lead in his group of friends. His roommates turned to him whenever they needed to know "which roommate should get to date the cute girl we all [had] just met, and how late to stay at Wellesley parties before the last ‘Cuddle Shuttle’ left for Cambridge," according to Wood.

Grayson and his roommates also loved to play pranks, according to Philip M. Grant ’94, who lived with Grayson all four years of college. Grant recalls a particular winter break when he and Grayson moved all their neighbors’ furniture around while they were absent.

Yet, Grant says, Grayson was particularly self-conscious about getting caught.