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How We Got the Secretary of State to Say "Yes" to Speaking at Mount Holyoke

>>> From the White House to our house--Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with (left to right) Vice President Al Gore, Chief Of Staff Leon Panetta, and President Clinton.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright not only has to handle important international affairs, she also must respond to numerous requests for her presence at prestigious events around the world. So how did Mount Holyoke get Albright to agree to deliver this year's commencement address?

It was a combination of good planning, good connections, and good luck, according to assistant to the president Phil Buchanan. Seniors nominated Albright for speaker when she was still the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and not in the public spotlight quite as often as she is now. In November 1996, President Creighton asked her to be the 1997 commencement speaker, and also requested that Mount Holyoke's "man in Washington"--then National Security Adviser Anthony Lake--speak with Albright on the College's behalf.

Lake did, and reported to Creighton that Albright had agreed in principle to speak at commencement. But later that same week, Albright was nominated for the secretary of state post, bringing with it the possibility that her availability in May 1997 might change along with her job title. So the College kept in close touch with Albright's office during and after the confirmation process.

In doing so, Buchanan says, we discovered an ally in Albright's office: deputy to the chief of staff Suzanne George '90. George was enthusiastic about Albright visiting her alma mater, and called the College in mid-March with the official confirmation that her boss would be in South Hadley for commencement. George is also expected to be the "point person" coordinating Albright's visit, since she knows the campus well from her own years at MHC.

As you might expect, Albright received many invitations to speak at graduations this year, but accepted only two: Mount Holyoke and Harvard.