CIA chief visits Ivy

The event was open to juniors and seniors in the club, according to a source within the club who was granted anonymity due to the off-the-record nature of the event. Some juniors and seniors in the University’s Reserve Officer Training Corps also attended the event, said an ROTC cadet who did not attend but was familiar with the event.

Ivy president Jason Ramirez ’13 was unable to comment by deadline and Ivy graduate board president James Griffin ’55 did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Multiple members of the club either declined or did not respond to a request for comment.

John Tomczyk, a CIA spokesman, confirmed that the visit took place but said he could not speak about the topics discussed because the CIA only agreed to the event on the condition that it was off-the-record.

He added that he did not know why Petraeus, who has no known affiliation with Ivy, spoke at the club rather than at a University-sponsored event.

“I know that he accepts very, very few invitations, so obviously there was a reason,” Tomczyk said.

Both the Wilson School and the Office of the President said they were uninvolved in bringing Petraeus to campus, though both were in contact with the director in the lead-up to his visit.

Tilghman said in an email that Petraeus asked to meet with her prior to the reception at Ivy. The pair met for an hour, she said.

The Wilson School invited Petraeus to speak at a public event, said Elisabeth Donahue, the Wilson School associate dean for public and external affairs. Petraeus, however, had limited time and was unable to present a public talk, she said.

“He was extremely gracious and wished he could spend more time here but had already committed to other engagements,” Donahue said in an email.

The last time Petraeus publicly visited the University was in February 2010, when the then-Commander of the U.S. Central Command was awarded the James Madison Medal at Alumni Day.