Andricus Hutcherson is bringing more than his knowledge of social work and public policy to his Wednesday night classes at Ball State — he’s bringing lessons taught to him by former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle.
Before coming to Indiana, Hutcherson was a graduate student at the University of Chicago from 1997 to 1999, where former president Obama would give lectures for those interested in public policy, specifically people who had an interest in becoming an elected official or working in politics.
“Growing up in the Chicago political spectrum, my dad worked for a member of Congress and I was always involved in local campaigns, local strategizing [and] community organizing with my mother and my father,” Hutcherson said. “So naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to attend his workshop."
Obama was a professor at the university at that same time — from 1992 until he became a U.S. Senator in 2004. Hutcherson said that Barack was able to see and recognize talent in individuals and mentor them by being a role model and reaching out.
“I remember various exchanges with him when I would work. If we were going to a church and he was getting ready to speak or if I was helping with the advance work on his campaign, there would be tidbits of advice that he would give that I thought was something that you don’t necessarily see with others,” Hutcherson said. “It really wasn’t a concern per se about what I can get from an individual, which would be so obvious, it was more so what can I bring or how can we co-construct a perspective.”
Hutcherson saw Barack as a person who knew how to manage stress well and who was laid back, but also methodical and pragmatic. When Hutcherson worked with other political figures, he would see more of a short-term instead of long-term strategy, he said.
“I saw someone that actually could have a lot of foresight into what a strategic move or decision or policy could have,” Hutcherson said. “I saw that he was able to utilize and take in info from other smart folks, whether it was a younger person, an older person, a person that was not necessarily the top of the class person that’s highly educated per say, but educated in other ways and he was able to pull in all of these perspectives to really present something that I think was more inclusive."
Hutcherson also interacted with Michelle Obama during his time at the University of Chicago. At the time, Michelle ran the communication development department for the university and oversaw campus activities. She was responsible for building relationships and connecting the university to the community.
Hutcherson said he also remembers putting together a unity picnic for the campus to bring together diverse students, faculty members and staff.
“People [were] playing softball and bean bags … the person that assisted me in that process was first lady Obama," he said. "She was passing out the armbands and things, and from there I was able to really get to know her and I was very honored because she said that I helped to start something, an institutional program on campus that was wildly successful."
Hutcherson said that by the time he graduated, Barack was already running for Congress, and Hutcherson was able to work with him and his teams "in terms of helping to strategize the campaign.”
Though Hutcherson hasn’t seen Michelle since Barack became a senator or Barack himself since 2004 or 2005, he still remembers the connection the two had.
"I would see him stop whatever he was doing and talk to his wife in a way that I thought was endearing; there was something to model- this healthy communication, something that I saw with my parents," he said. "It was refreshing to see something that didn’t seem fake, that seemed like they were a team and there was a lot of respect there … it really is about those relationships that are so much more important than the bigger picture. He was able to strike that balance and i think that’s what made him very, very unique.”
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