HANOVER — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley greeted a packed crowd inside Dartmouth’s Adelphian Lodge Saturday morning with a joke about the building’s connection to a certain famous ’70s comedy about an unruly fraternity.

“You left out that Animal House was taken after this, right?” Haley asked the audience after being introduced by Dartmouth’s Alpha Delta Alumni Corporation board member Jim Feuille, whose organization owns the building. “You gotta talk about that because I think it’s super cool.”

Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under Donald Trump, spent much of the last week holding town halls and meeting potential voters in several New Hampshire towns including Lancaster, Lincoln, Sugar Hill and North Conway. Haley called the North Country region “beautiful” and tried to pronounce “Lancaster” with a New Hampshire accent, which garnered a few laughs from the audience.

According to 538’s aggregate polling data for the Republican 2024 primaries, as of last Wednesday, Haley’s 3.9% share is trailing Trump (52%), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (23.3%) and former Vice President Mike Pence (6.5%), though she’s ahead of U.S. Senator Tim Scott (3.7%) and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Haley, who is Indian-American, is the first woman of color to be considered a major candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

She opened her speech by discussing how being the only Indian family in her hometown made her the target of bullies when she was younger and that experience drew a bit of sage wisdom from her mother.

“My mom would always say (to me) ‘Your job is not to show them how you’re different, your job is to show them how you’re similar,” Haley said.

“And it’s amazing how our country can take my mom’s advice right now.”

Haley’s 45-minute speech touched on her belief that the U.S. needs to be much tougher on China in foreign relations, saying that China is preparing for war “with America” and that it has, in part, already infiltrated the U.S. through supplying Mexican drug cartels with fentanyl.

“We had enough fentanyl cross that border last year to kill every single American,” Haley said. “And don’t think for a second that China doesn’t know what they’re doing when they send it.”

On the topic of women’s reproductive rights and abortion, which audience member Marianna Doyle raised in the questions period following the former governor’s speech, Haley said she is “unapologetically pro-life,” but also said the issue is “incredibly personal for every woman in every way.” She said that it’s “for the best” that the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade and returned the issue to state-level governance.

She said given that any potential federal bill weighing in on the issue would need 60 Senate votes and that “we haven’t had 60 (anti-abortion) senators in 60 years,” it would be practically impossible for an incoming Republican president to ban abortion nationally.

“So, if we’re going to talk about a federal law, let’s talk about what we can agree on?” Haley asked the audience. “Why can’t we agree that we should not have late-term abortions? Can’t we agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe in abortion shouldn’t have to perform them? Can’t we agree we should encourage more adoptions and good quality adoptions? Can’t we agree that contraception should be accessible? And can’t we agree that no state law should say if a woman has an abortion, that she should have to go to jail or get the death penalty?”

When asked about her policy on gun control, Haley — who was governor of South Carolina in 2015 when a racist white gunman shot and killed nine Black parishioners at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston — said that the focus needs to first be on policing “street crime” and removing illegal guns off the streets, then prosecuting those selling them with more severe legal penalties.

She also said mental health plays a significant factor, stating that “we have more people now with anxiety and depression than we’ve ever seen” and that there aren’t enough therapists, mental health clinics or addiction centers in the United States to meet demand.

Haley also emphasized America’s commitment to take care of its military veteran population and said that, as president, she would work to ensure better medical care for veterans by requiring congress members to get their health care through the VA. Haley’s husband, Michael, is in the military and is currently serving overseas, she said.

Max CiVon, a resident of Hopkinton, N.H., said he came out to see Haley because he views her as a “center” candidate who has a “pulse” on what the American people need the most.

“The vast majority of Americans want the same thing,” said CiVon, who is in his late 50s. “They want their families to have a good education, they want to live a nice life and they want to be left alone — I think she’s the candidate for that — the ‘leave me alone’ candidate.”

CiVon said he’s a registered Democrat but that the party has “left him” and that he’s looking for a new political place to live.

Haley’s audience featured a large gaggle of Dartmouth students who packed in at the back of the room for most of the town hall. One of those students, Kavya Nivarthy, 20, who said she votes independent, praised Haley’s crowd presence and energy, calling it “exciting.”

“She clearly has that humility that comes from her family life and her experience as governor working in a state (South Carolina) that has a lot of potential,” Nivarthy said. “She seemed to be a great listener, and she dealt with questions really well.”

Nivarthy said she hasn’t made up her mind on who she’s voting for but that she’s most concerned about how the economy will be faring when she enters the job market in two years.

“I don’t want Social Security or Medicare to run out, (and) I want to enter into a healthy job market when I graduate,” she said.

Ray Couture can be reached at 1994rbc@gmail.com.

CORRECTION: Kavya Nivarthy is a 20-year-old Dartmouth College student who votes independent. A previous version of this story included an incorrect first name for Nivarthy.