Commencement Address

Dana Perino, the second woman to serve as  White House Press Secretary, will share her rise to the White House as she delivers the Commencement Address to Colorado State University-Pueblo graduates during the Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 3. A 1994 graduate of Colorado State University-Pueblo, Perino became White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush on Sept. 14, 2007. From March 27 to April 30, 2007, she was the Acting White House Press Secretary while her predecessor Tony Snow underwent treatment for a recurrence of colon cancer. She is only the second woman to serve in this position, following Dee Dee Myers during the Clinton Administration. After graduating from the University with a major in mass communications and minors in political science and Spanish, Perino worked as a daily reporter covering the Illinois Capitol for SCIA-TV, a CBS affiliate, while attending the University of Illinois-Springfield to work on her master’s degree. She then went on to work in Washington, D.C. for Rep. Scott McInnis of Colorado as a staff assistant before serving nearly four years as the press secretary for retired Colorado Congressman Dan Schaefer. After Representative Schaefer announced his retirement, Perino moved to England to marry businessman Peter McMahon. After living there for a year, they moved back to the United States and resided in San Diego, California, where Perino worked in the field of high-tech public affairs. In November 2001, Perino returned to Washington, D.C. to serve as spokesperson for the Department of Justice. Several months later, she was asked to join the White House where she served as Director of Communications for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which oversees the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, where all federal agencies must complete environmental assessments on their activities before they take action. In 2003, Perino was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award by the CSU-Pueblo Alumni Association.